The Stowaway
by Miss-Inquisitive-Sci-fi
Summary: Whilst travelling to a conference, Captain Pike and Number One are caught up in a terrorist attack. The duo have to contend with a hijacker, a failing shuttle, life-threatening injuries, being cut off from the Enterprise and a deranged kidnapper who is determined to snag himself two Starfleet Officers. Alone in the jungle, the command team find out what it's like to be hunted.
1. Chapter 1

Number One flicked her gaze over to her Captain, a wry smile forming when she noticed the child-like gleam in his eyes. He had a firm grip on the flight controls and looked more relaxed in the pilot's seat of a shuttle than One had seen him in years; the image was adorable and quite honestly much needed. Captain Pike had been uptight and tense recently, even more so than usual after a few disastrous missions. Getting away from the Enterprise, and what with it being just the two of them, allowed for a relaxed camaraderie.

Chris glanced her way suddenly, his brow raised in intrigue. "Something on my face?" He quipped with a grin.

Una chuckled and shook her head, returning her gaze forwards. "Like I'd ever tell you." She joked back.

Pike barked a laugh and grinned genuinely, his dimples showing. He enjoyed their easy banter just as much as she did.

Una watched with half of her attention on him as he took manual control of the flight stick and started gliding through the landscape, she didn't miss the half-hidden smile as he performed the elegant manoeuvres.

"Do you miss it?"

Chris kept his eyes on the view-screen and where he was piloting, but the smile slipped to be replaced by something a little more melancholy. "Sometimes... it sure was simpler back then." He replied, sounding almost wistful before shaking the feeling off. "Although the seat's not as comfy."

That time he did turn to look at her, flashing a grin her way. Una knew that this was Pike's way, he didn't like others to see his emotions, not even her, so hid them behind jokes and sarcasm. As usual, she didn't comment on the behaviour. Instead she just smirked back and made a suggestion of her own.

"If you're getting too old for the Captain's chair I will happily take over; leave you to fly your little box ship."

Chris snorted and laughed heartily. "Yeah yeah One, always chomping at my heels for the job." His eyes gleamed as he promised fondly, "not gonna happen."

"As you say Sir." Una replied, her smile widening into a grin.

Number One was not someone who could be scared easily and she usually had good tactical awareness, so when there was a sudden clang from the back of the shuttle she almost fell out of her chair in shock.

She turned to Pike, checking that he had heard the sound too before looking to the back of the shuttle. "What was that?" She muttered, not seeing anything obvious from their position.

Pike didn't have any luck seeing anything out of place either, he checked the ships systems and soon ruled out a mechanical failure. "The sensors say it's nothing to do with the ship but they could be malfunctioning."

They both sat and listened for another sound, or any other indication as to what that had been. Una got tired of waiting, she unclipped her belt and jumped to her feet.

"Una?" Chris queried, half his attention on her and the other half on not crashing the shuttle.

Number One had a bad feeling about the noise and she needed to get some peace of mind by checking, she didn't tell Chris about her worries which in hindsight was probably a mistake. Una really had to learn to listen to her gut...

"I'm just gonna check it out, make sure all the systems are functioning." She assured him with a smile before heading off.

Pike shrugged and made an okay sound when he saw how relaxed his XO was; if she wasn't worried then he rarely was. Whilst she made her way to the back of the shuttle he ran a few more system's diagnostics, his paranoia about missing something the first time getting the better of him.

It wasn't long before he heard footsteps approaching and figured that Number One was returning, and considering her silence hadn't found anything of merit.

"Everything alright?" He called back over his shoulder as he finished up the final checks on the shuttle.

Chris frowned when he heard nothing back from his first officer, he took a firm grip of the flight stick, set the speed to auto and glanced back over his shoulder. When he saw Number One with her back to him, frozen to the spot and tense, his senses warned him something was off. His danger warnings were proved correct when he noticed a body behind Una, one which definitely shouldn't be there.

"Not exactly." Una eventually answered, her voice cracking a little, giving Chris an insight into just what kind of trouble they were in. If it had ruffled his XO then he knew it had to be deep.

Before Chris could work out what to do with that troubling revelation, the mystery man stepped to the side and into Pike's view. That was when Chris saw the lethal energy weapon in the man's hand, and that it was pointed directly at Una's head.

His eyes flitted between Una and Chris and he made a nervous gesture with the weapon. "Hands up both of you."

So not only did they have an armed stowaway to contend with, but they had an armed stowaway who was nervous and jittery; not a great situation whilst flying in a shuttle. Number One immediately did as instructed, Pike hesitated a second too long, still dumbfounded by the sudden intrusion and trying to come to terms with how this was possible.

"Hey!" The intruder took a step forwards, forcing Una to turn and he pointed the weapon directly at Pike. "Do you think I'm not serious?"

Chris noticed that the gunman kept his distance from the pair of them, making sure he was out of hand-to-hand range. He also noticed the weapon didn't waver any more and the jittery attitude had disappeared, to be replaced by a cold threatening demeanour.

He quickly held up his hands and babbled back. "Hey, no problem here. I just didn't want to let go of the controls completely."

Chris wanted the gunman to know he wasn't just being disobedient for no reason, his first instinct had been to hold onto the thing keeping them all in the air. His sentence snapped the gunman's attention to the controls and the nervous look reappeared.

"Put it on autopilot." He waved the gun at Chris before adding a threat as an afterthought. "Nothing else, or I'll shoot your friend here."

Una bristled at the threat as did Chris, although when the weapon was swung to its new target he set about doing exactly what he had been told; turning on the autopilot system fully and not touching anything else. No matter how tempting it was to send off a distress signal or message to Enterprise, it just wasn't worth getting shot over, not yet at least.

When Pike was done he turned back around and returned his hands to their previous position which seemed to help calm the gunman down, although the nervous jitter returned when he looked over Pike's shoulder to the flight system. Was he really that paranoid?

The anxiousness evaporated in an instant and was replaced by cold steel. He suddenly gripped Number One's shoulder spun her to face the cockpit and kicked the back of her legs harshly. Una hit the floor with a grunt and bit her lip in an effort to not retaliate, Chris wasn't so smart.

He stood from the seat abruptly and took a step forward. "Hey, there's no need for that."

The gunman suddenly snapped his attention to him and the phaser was up and pointing at his head in less than a second, his eyes blazing furiously and clearly disbelieving that Chris was daring to be so brazen at gunpoint. Maybe not his smartest move, and Una's disapproving stare didn't help matters.

"Shut the hell up!" The gunman snarled and his finger tightened around the trigger.

There was a tense standoff as both sides waited for the outcome of Pike's foolishness, the air was so thick with emotion that they could taste the fear. Chris really thought he'd pushed too far, that he'd finally talked himself into an early grave. He didn't know which way it was going to go, the gunman looked half tempted to just shoot him but thankfully something stayed his hand.

"If you do anything out of line again I'll kill you." He threatened menacingly, speaking in an even matter-of-fact tone like he was just talking about the weather. "Understand?"

Chris didn't miss the blazing anger in the man's eyes, the twitch of his finger which indicated he was so very close to going the other way. He was on thin ice here, very thin ice. He nodded dumbly and swallowed hard, taking the threat and the gunman's resolve far more seriously. Pike had seen empty threats in his time and sadly he'd seen killers. This kid, no matter how young he looked belonged in the latter.

_Yeah, they were in deep shit here._

The gunman took a step back and motioned for Chris to approach. "Hands in the air and turn around."

Pike did as he was told and kept his thoughts to himself, any further smart-ass comments could very well be the end of him. He knew when to shut-up and do as he was told; this was definitely the time for that.

Soon after he turned around Chris felt someone approach, he let out a yelp and grunted when the backs of his legs were kicked, sending him down and forward. He barely managed to stay upright and all his focus was on keeping his hands in plain view. Chris clenched his jaw and managed to find his balance, readjusting his weight on his sore knees and ignoring the dull throb shooting up his leg. The fact wasn't lost on him that the gunman had repeated his violent action on purpose, likely to provoke a reaction. Chris didn't give him one.

The gunman moved into view and appraised the both of them silently, his eyebrow raised like he was expecting them to protest to the treatment. When they both remained silent and tight-lipped he smirked and lowered the phaser a little.

"Good, that's much better." He smiled at the both of them and held himself more confidently. "Now if you both cooperate you may just make it through this alive."

Chris saw Una roll her eyes when the gunman's attention was off of them; he felt a similar sentiment. Frankly he wanted to know what _this_ was, and as for cooperating... There was only so far either of them would go, even with a gun held to their heads.

Pike studied their hijacker more carefully, trying to fill in some of gaps about him like: where the hell had he come from, why was he here, and why was he armed?

The gunman didn't seem aware of the scrutiny, he kept his distance from the pair of them and began to glance at the cockpit controls, a light frown appearing as his eyes roamed over the terminal. He soon swung back to Pike and Una, the phaser swinging up to point at Pike causing them both to tense.

"This isn't an Riserian shuttle." He accused heatedly, taking a step forward. "Who are you, what ship is this?"

Chris frowned at both the statement and the question, was their hijacker really that inept that he had stowed away on the wrong ship? He obviously stayed silent too long because the gunman suddenly took a step forward and swung the phaser at his head, hard.

Pike's vision greyed and his head exploded in a symphony of pain, he fell to the side from the force of the blow and miserably slammed his head again on the way down. His entire body felt unresponsive, blood was starting to trickle from the wound and his teeth had cut the inside of his mouth leaving him with a nasty copper tang.

Chris groaned into the floor and blinked rapidly in an attempt to forestall passing out, he clenched his fists and breathed heavily when a wave of misery washed over him, one which made him want to retch all over the floor. He felt the vibrations in the ground indicating somebody was approaching, Chris tensed, closed his eyes and prepared his body for another hit.

"Chris!" He heard Number One yell before a bark from the hijacker override anything else.

He felt a foot nudge at his side and then suddenly it kicked out causing him to yelp and pull away from the violent treatment. The foot kept pushing until he was rolling over, with him ending up flat on his back and staring up into the hijacker's face and the barrel of a phaser. Chris also noticed that his attacker's foot was pressed into his chest, and that he was starting to apply pressure.

Pike gasped for air and tried to wriggle out from under the crushing hold but the hijacker was having none of it.

"Hey! Stop it, I'll tell you what you want to know." Una cried out desperately.

Chris let out a sigh of relief when the pressure on his chest lessened to more manageable levels, the last thing he wanted was for this bastard to get anything out of them but frankly he needed to breathe.

The hijacker grew impatient when Number One stalled, he reapplied pressure into Pike's chest until he cried out. "Well come on then, get on with it."

The threat caused Una to reply immediately. "We're both Starfleet, from the USS Enterprise. This is our shuttle, we're here for the conference."

Chris opened his eyes and saw the hijacker's expression, he was squinting over at Una suspiciously but the phaser was still pointed directly down at Pike. Chris thought about trying something for about two seconds, because soon after the thought popped into his head he almost passed out and his vision went completely.

"You're both Starfleet... Tell me your names."

When the pressure was removed from his chest Chris realised Una had hesitated, and that the gunman had noticed. Suddenly the boot crashed into his ribs from the side, causing him to curl up and protectively clutch his ribs. When the gunman repeated the vicious kick Chris felt something strain inside him and he yelled out from the stabbing agony.

Did it really matter who they were?

He had resigned himself to a beating when Una jumped in. "Wait!" She cried out desperately, nervously licking her lips. "I'm Commander Una, and he's Captain Pike."

They all waited a beat for the hijackers reaction, Pike hadn't expected the information to get much of a reaction at all and he certainly hadn't expected their reputation to be known.

"You're the federation big-shots. The Captain and his first officer..."

That wasn't a good sign. Una hadn't mentioned anything about being his XO, this hijacker knew them, he was informed about visitors and that was dangerous. Chris raced through all of these thoughts as his body slowly unfurled and he started to breathe normally again, his ribs were throbbing and he already had one almighty headache coming on.

"Yes." Una finally replied in a defeated tone. "Now can you let him up?"

Up, that sounded nice. Anything sounded nicer than being pressed down into this floor under the weight of a boot.

"That depends." The hijacker answered and Chris could tell by his tone that he was smiling, the sick bastard was enjoying his pain.

"On what?" Una snapped back bitterly, if the situation weren't so serious Chris would have found it funny.

"Can you fly this thing?"

"Yes."

The shuttle fell into a silence as everyone appraised each other and their options. Chris finally worked his way through the nausea and opened his eyes to see the situation hadn't changed; the hijacker was above him with the phaser held steadily and Una was kneeling to the side with her hands in the air.

Their eyes met and he saw her brow furrow when she met his gaze, he must look worse than he felt or maybe it was the fact that he couldn't seem to hold her gaze without drifting.

"Good, get in the pilot's seat." The gunman suddenly ordered and in one swift movement reached down and hauled Chris off the ground.

Chris swallowed down bile that the sudden movement brought on and swayed dangerously, the hijacker manhandled him into a kneeling position, not too kindly either. Pike grunted when his knees took the brunt of the action. He forced his vision to steady and looked for his XO, who was standing and backing into the cockpit, her eyes latching onto the blood he could feel dripping down his face.

Pike felt the phaser brush against the back of his head causing him to tense and breath in sharply, Una's eyes widened when she acknowledged the threat.

The gunman flicked the phaser forwards, indicating her to carry on as ordered. "Your Captain and I will watch from here."

* * *

Not long after issuing Una a new flight path, the hijacker decided that Chris looked a little too much of a threat as he was, so that was when the order to place his hands on his head was barked.

Honestly, he had almost missed the command entirely. The hijacker had been talking to Una for so long that Chris had fallen into a daze and just focussed on not throwing up everywhere, his vision was still nastily spinning now. A helpful slap to the head woke him up and he grunted from the shockwaves it caused.

"Hands on your head, now!" The hijacker yelled, as he flaunted the threat of the lethal phaser.

Chris gritted his teeth, bit back an angry retort and did as instructed. "Okay, okay." He muttered back bitterly.

Number One shot him a look over her shoulder at that, one which roughly translated to - 'don't be an idiot and push this guy, just keep your mouth shut and your head down.'

Suitably mollified Pike nodded at her assuredly and slammed his mouth shut, focussing on letting go of some of his anger. It wouldn't help him here. Mercifully the hijacker soon grew bored with him and started to pay more attention to Una, and where she was flying them. The hijacker was only giving her headings and not final coordinates, from Chris's calculations he would guess the final destination to be the capital city which was just a tad worrying. Una thought so too.

"I'm not flying this thing any further until you tell me what you want. Where are we going?" Una took her hands off the controls and crossed her arms stubbornly.

The hijacker glared at her cooly; he fingered the phaser playfully and glanced between the kneeling Pike and rebelling Una. Suddenly he smiled wickedly and lashed out.

The phaser came crashing towards his face at blinding speed, far too fast for Chris to do anything about it. He grunted from the impact and saw stars, he distantly felt the ground sway beneath him and suddenly he was falling backwards, keeling over with his legs bent awkwardly.

He was trying to recover from the first assault when the second came even more brutally. The hijacker's boot crashed into his jaw, snapping his head to the side forcibly and causing blood to pool in his mouth.

"Arghhh!" He yelled out when the foot stamped down upon his head, crushing his nose and most likely breaking it.

"Stop it!" Una cried out desperately.

Chris couldn't open his eyes to see her, but he knew she was up and out of her seat by her voice. He took the brief lull in the beating to clutch at his head and nose, trying to stem the bleeding and offer some protection if someone started kicking him again.

When the next kick came it was unexpected and aimed at his mid-section; he yelled, his ribs throbbed and buckled under the brutality and force of the assault. Pike curled up into a ball and tried to prepare his body for the next hit, which of course came to somewhere he wasn't protecting.

Chris cried out and his back arched when the hijacker's boot slammed into his lower back. He rolled onto his back, gritted his teeth and tried to take short sharp breaths through the blinding agony. He clutched his ribs miserably and coughed up blood.

"Please stop... I'll fly." Una pleaded with their captor.

Pike didn't hear any reply nor could he hear footsteps, he waited in tense silence for the next hit or whatever was coming his way. From previous experience he was only really expecting more pain, regardless of how much he wished this tortuous nightmare was over.

Suddenly something gripped his arm and was hauling upwards, causing him to cry out when his insides were yanked around painfully. He ended up in a kneeling position, much like before, facing the cockpit and with a gun to the back of his head. Pike bit back a moan, clutched his hurting body and managed to open his eyes to see Una staring down at him in fear. He frowned when he noticed that there were in fact 3 Una's, maybe he was close to passing out... He really wished this guy would stop using his head for target practise.

"Well?" The hijacker snarled pushing the phaser into Chris's head more firmly earning a gasp in response.

Una's worried eyes flicked down to him one last time; she nodded quickly and returned her attention to the flight controls. After that moment any time she hesitated in following commands, Pike got hit. There was no warning, it was just the rules of the game. They both hated this game, but if they wanted to live they had to play by it. Neither of them had seen an opportunity to overpower the hijacker, so this was their only option to survive.

That was Pike's mindset at least until the hijacker made a communication with somebody on the ground, one which revealed his true intentions, how he got on board in the first place and more importantly meant that he and Una couldn't cooperate any longer. They weren't going to responsible for the deaths of everyone in the Capital...

* * *

"Forward base, this is Alec come in over."

The mysterious hijacker now had a name, whether it was real or not was another matter entirely, but at least Pike could put a name to a face. Pike listened to the conversation as best he could, Alec was standing behind him and Una talking quietly into a communicator of some description. So far he'd only been receiving static in response, something which had continued for at least 5 minutes which had only made their captor more anxious.

Thankfully, for the hijacker's sanity and Pike and Una's continued existence, a voice started to crackle back through the airwaves.

"Alec, you missed your check in point. What the hell is going on?"

Alec took a huge sigh of relief and stopped pacing. "I ran into some trouble. The beam up point wasn't the right target."

"You're not onboard a ship?"

Alec laughed darkly. "I'm on board a ship alright, but it's a federation ship."

There was a sustained silence on the other end, and then the voice replied. "Are you certain?"

Chris stiffened when he sensed footsteps approaching. Alec's phaser brushed the back of his head, maybe as a warning to stay in place but most likely to dial up the fear factor. Pike took a deep breath to stay calm; he clenched his hands together and kept them glued to his head. "Yes, I'm holding two Starfleet officers hostage as we speak."

"Can you still complete the mission?"

Chris noticed Una's fingers halt above the controls, showing she was as interested in this titbit of information as he was. This was the first they'd heard about any mission, or any reason for the hijacking in the first place. One thing was certain; stowing away and taking control of the ship was pre-meditated.

"Yes. They're flying the shuttle for me."

Another puzzle-piece slotted into place. Alec's unfamiliarity with the shuttle made sense now, Riserian controls were the only controls he knew.

"Your window to fire will close in 10 minutes, make sure you're over the city by then."

Una's head snapped round and their eyes met in shock. The mission… the mission involved using this shuttle to fire over a city.

"I will."

Yeah… There was no way Una was going to fly this shuttle over the city for any reason, even if Alec threatened to kill the both of them.

"Goodbye brother."

"Goodbye."

Number One was still staring back at Chris, a silent conversation taking place in that brief moment. They'd worked together long enough to read each other, and to understand cues from the other without words. Chris smiled sadly at his trusted first officer and nodded once, a silent order to do whatever she deemed necessary to stop their hijacker from carrying out his plan.

"Hey!" Alec yelled to Una as he brought the phaser up to threaten; "Get back to flying!"

She looked at Pike one last time before turning back to the controls, her posture tense and rigid. Chris started to track their hijacker's movements with far more scrutiny, the haziness in his mind being eradicated by the shot of adrenaline. He needed to overpower Alec, his life be damned. They needed this shuttle to go down somewhere safe and away from the city, they needed to take it out themselves before it could be used by Alec or his group in this attack. Pike just had to make his move before the hijacker shot the both of them and tried flying this thing for himself. Chris knew their impromptu plan was dangerous and that there was little chance of survival, but what choice did they have?


	2. Chapter 2

Una kept the shuttle steady for the next few minutes to give Chris the best chance of overpowering their hijacker, Alec needed to be calm and as off guard as possible given the circumstances despite that he'd just been buoyed up by the recent confirmation. For his part, Pike kept his head down and his mouth shut, trying to blend into the background and reduce his threat rating for Alec. It appeared to be working.

Alec was getting sloppier with keeping his distance and at one point he was stood right beside Pike with the phaser held loosely in his hand, staring out the front viewport. Una noticed his positioning too. She took one hand off the flight stick and tapped her fingers against the base of the chair three times before continuing to fly, giving Pike a warning countdown for whatever she was going to pull off.

When the countdown hit zero Number One made her move, she tilted the flight stick forward abruptly making the shuttle's nose dip forward and all three of them careered forward. Alarms blared throughout the cockpit as Una continued to push the craft to its limits. Pike was expecting a distraction but he hadn't quite expected anything so violent, so much so that even he lost his balance and fell forward, thankfully so did Alec. Their hijacker stumbled forward a few steps and completely lost his balance, the hand holding the phaser came into view and Chris went for it.

Before the hijacker had a chance to recover, Pike grabbed his gun arm, slid out his leg and brought the gunman crashing down. They both landed on the floor in a tangle of limbs and that was when the desperate struggle for the weapon started. Chris was distantly aware that the shuttle was levelling out; he could hear Una fighting with the controls to level the ship after her crazy stunt. He hoped she got it under control soon and helped him out because frankly Alec wasn't giving up easily, and after a few knocks to the head, Chris wasn't at his best.

Pure desperation to live drove him onwards, he tangled with Alec and grabbed a hold of his gun arm, stretching it out in an attempt to keep it away from his head. They rolled together on the floor, one getting the advantage one second and then the tables flipped when limbs crashed into flesh. Chris yelled out when a knee hit his ribs, right where Alec had hit earlier.

The attack was enough for him to loosen his hold on the hijacker's arm and he managed to aim the phaser towards the front of the cockpit. Pike shook off his dazed state, tracked the phaser and its trajectory and yelled out a warning to Number One at the same time as he shoved the gun arm aside. A bolt left the gun and he heard electronics explode and fizz, the lights flickered and suddenly they were all plunged into darkness.

Chris didn't have time to wonder whether that shot had successfully hit his XO, he needed to take this phaser out of play, _now._

He rolled on top of Alec grabbed the gunman's arm with two hands, lifted with all his strength and slammed the limb down into the ground. He repeated the action until he heard a crack, Alec screamed and he heard the sound of the phaser skittering out of sight. Now that Alec was unarmed the fight was much more balanced, but Pike was still injured. That was something that the hijacker took advantage of brutally.

Alec punched him in the ribs and kidneys, short quick jabs that served to steal Pike's breath away. He gasped and collapsed off of his opponent, curling up protectively to protect his cracked ribs. The hijacker took advantage of his injured state and followed up the blows by several punches to the face and head which had Chris reeling. The shuttle chose that moment to swerve wildly, or rather more accurately Number One lost the fight against some of the flight controls. Pike knew she was still alive because he could hear her cursing at the control panel which Alec had inadvertently blown up.

The hijacker fell off of Pike and crashed into the side of the shuttle; Chris utilised the adrenaline afforded him and leapt upwards, his target was to take out the hijacker before he could take out him. He managed to land a few solid punches whilst blocking the counter-attacks, and when the shuttle rolled again he got lucky. Alec lost his balance and collapsed to the floor but Pike didn't. He snaked an arm around his opponent's neck and curled his legs around Alec's waist, keeping him pinned and in place.

Alec struggled madly but it was of no use, Chris had him trapped in a head lock and he was never going to let go. Not with so many lives on the line and his own survival at stake. Adrenaline pushed Chris through the pain, and through the brutal attacks that Alec kept administering on his already injured ribs, he yelled out with each hit but still kept a firm hold around Alec's neck. Mercifully the elbowing and struggles started to weaken, and eventually Alec stopped moving all together.

Chris kept the hold in place long after the hijacker had gone limp just to be sure that he was out cold and no longer a threat. After 30 seconds he released the head lock, disentangled his limbs from the hijacker and dragged his aching body to a seated position, gasping and backing away from Alec. A shrill alarm snapped him back into the present, that the phaser had been fired at the cockpit and that they were still in terrible danger. He turned to Number One and was relieved to see her in the pilot's seat still, even though she looked to be fighting with the controls.

"Una…" He croaked but was halted by a cough, one which had him hacking up blood which was _not_ a good sign for his internal injuries.

She didn't look back to him and it was clear why, she was fighting with the controls with everything she had but Chris could still see the landscape getting closer out of the viewport.

"We're going down Chris! I can't stop it, all the controls have been shot to shit." Una yelled over the almost deafening shrill of the alarms.

"Fuck." He replied, he knew it wasn't the most eloquent response but it summed up the shitty situation rather well.

"Get strapped in, this is gonna be a rough landing." She added before devoting all her attention to putting them down in a less populated area, and hopefully in one piece.

Chris took one look at the unconscious man below him and realised that he couldn't leave him there, he couldn't leave him to die without any protection. Decision made, he hefted the limp body up and started dragging it towards the seats, grunting and wincing the whole way. Alec was heavier than he looked and with his ribs broken, hauling another body was not an easy feat. He eventually made it to the seats and dropped the body in place, slumping over next to it to catch his breath.

The shuttle dipped alarmingly again and he slid away from the seats a few metres which told him just how serious this was, and that he better get strapped in now. He urgently crawled towards Alec's body and strapped him in whilst he heard Una curse at the controls loudly. Chris managed to strap the hijacker's body in with fumbling fingers; he was about to take the seat next to him when suddenly the shuttle pitched downwards sending him flying into the ceiling. He groaned at the contact and resisted the urge to pass out, he needed to get buckled up before this rust-bucket hit the ground. Chris reached for the straps of a seat on his way towards the floor and managed to get one arm through the buckles before all hell broke loose.

"Chris, you better be in a seat." Una yelled back above the chaos. "We're going dow-"

Her words were cut off when his head slammed against the floor on the way down and then Pike knew no more.

* * *

Chris groaned when pain flared, the general numbness spreading across his body was lessening and slowly bit by bit he started to feel each muscle waking up, and with that came misery. The first just so happened to be his legs which screamed for attention every other breath, he soon figured out that it was because his legs were in motion and were dragging over rough ground. Another clue to this fact was the snatches of sky he managed to make out when he tried opening his eyes.

The next time he made a more concentrated effort to open his eyes for longer, when he blinked away the dizziness that seemed to hang over him like a veil; he saw the sky, thick jungle trees towering above him and smoke, lots of smoke. Chris followed the smoke's trail downwards and frowned at the image of a mangled shuttle, except it wasn't just any shuttle, it was the shuttle he and One had taken from Enterprise and _it was on fire._

The next mystery Pike couldn't get his damaged mind to solve was why the shuttle appeared to be getting smaller, was he moving? If so then how when he couldn't even keep his eyes open…

Someone grunted behind him, Chris felt himself falling towards the ground and he gasped when his ribs protested the sudden movement. He clutched at them miserably, well with his left arm at least, his right shoulder didn't seem to be cooperating.

"Ah shit, sorry Chris…" Someone muttered behind him, someone familiar.

He laid his head back, took several deep breaths and eventually managed to open his eyes to see his first officer leaning over him from behind his head, her face was covered in ash and blood but her eyes were alert and she was clearly more mobile than he was. Which brought him to the second conclusion, Number One had been dragging him away from the shuttle, and that's when he remembered the crash, or rather he remembered trying to get into a seat and then head butting the floor…

Speaking of which. "Ahhh…" He moaned miserably when his head started flaring up, so much so that he honestly thought it was splitting in two.

Chris felt hands grab a hold under his armpits and suddenly he was being lifted and pulled backwards, something which his abused body did not agree with. Una noticed his suffering immediately but she didn't stop moving him.

"I know it hurts and I'm sorry, but we've got to get clear of the shuttle incase it goes up."

Right, that made sense, with that much fuel, damage and the fire… An explosion that size could take out anything within 25 metres.

"S' okay…" He managed to mumble, that was when he heard Una's grunts of pain and he felt incredibly bad that he was just laying here whilst she was dragging him along. He wasn't the only one in that shuttle crash.

Chris thought he should try and do something about that so he stupidly tried to get his feet under him and help move himself along, of course his legs didn't like that idea and it wasn't long before they both crashed to the ground in a pained heap.

Number One sat up beside him and frowned. "What the hell was that?"

"Sorry, was tying to help." Pike muttered quietly, glad that his tongue seemed to be a bit more cooperative now.

Una sighed and her frown turned into a sad smile. "It's okay just don't try anything stupid like that again, there was a reason I was doing the heavy lifting." She admonished before squinting towards the shuttle. "I think we're far enough away now anyway."

Chris just nodded and managed to lift his head up to look at the burning shuttle, it really was quite a mess and had torn up the ground all-around them. "Some landing…" He joked.

Una glanced at him surprised and then her lips quirked upwards and she smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure you would have done better Mr. test-pilot but I had to cope with a dying shuttle whilst you were rolling around on the floor."

Chris gripped his ribs when they twinged in pain, "I wasn't rolling around on the floor..." he defended weakly.

Una's smile fell and she ended up staring at his ripped shirt, and the blood he could feel running down his face. "Yeah, I know…" She stared at him silently for a few moments, and they both came to terms with the fact that they were still in-fact alive. Una suddenly shook herself out of it and gently levered herself to her feet. "I'm going to go and get the emergency medical supplies, wait here."

"But…" Chris began and started to try and sit up, he wanted to say that it could be too dangerous and that she didn't have to handle this alone, but really he still wasn't seeing straight let alone standing and Una saw that in a heartbeat.

She held up a finger sternly and ordered. "Ah ah, stay put Pike. We both need those meds so I'm going to get them." She glanced at his shoulder and frowned. "And then we can see about putting your shoulder back in place."

With that she set off towards the shuttle, leaving Chris alone and on the cold ground. As she walked away he took stock of the situation, what inside his body was broken and hurt and just what exactly their options were. He registered what One said about his shoulder and when he glanced down at it he saw what she meant, it looked like it had been ripped out of its socket, most probably dislocated if not worse; that would certainly explain the pain he had felt earlier and why it was difficult to move...

Una returned a few minutes later, slugging a rucksack over her shoulder and limping slightly. Chris frowned when he caught sight of her walking, she grimaced with each step and had dried blood covering her clothes. He couldn't make out what was her own blood and what wasn't... She dropped the kit next to him and sank down to the floors groaning when her limbs protested the sudden movement. Chris felt a pang of guilt as he watched her struggle, she was handling this disaster all by herself whilst he had been laying here essentially useless.

"Here, I got these."

He snapped out of the moment when Una started to unpack the supplies she had collected, which mostly consisted of basic medical equipment and mercifully painkillers. She loaded up a hypospray with two powerful painkillers and injected the both of them; they both let out a satisfied gasp as they felt the medicine begin to take effect.

"That's some strong stuff." Chris sighed contently already feeling a little spaced out, "can we just lay down for a while."

Una snorted and shuffled closer to him. "No chance, I'm not having you fall asleep on me Captain."

Chris groaned as Una gripped a hold of his arms and started to pick him up. "Come on, I've got to get a better look at you."

Pike hissed with the movement but managed to help all the same, it wasn't long before he was in a seated position up against the trunk of a tree breathing hard. Una started to peel away what remained of his uniform jacket to get to his wounds.

Chris groaned in pain and muttered. "There are easier ways to get my shirt off Una..."

Una shot him an incredulous look, thinking how mad he was for bringing up something so suggestive at a time like this. She then noticed his lips quirking upwards in amusement and knew he was teasing her, she shook her head and continued to peel the ruined clothes away.

"Noted, Captain." She replied with a wink, one which had him grinning in return.

That grin soon transformed into something else entirely when she started to wrap his ribs up, one scan from the tricorder revealed their broken state and if they weren't supported there was the danger of a punctured lung or more serious internal bleeding. Apart from the internal injuries, Chris had sustained a skull fracture, a severe concussion, a dislocated shoulder and a sprained ankle. Considering the state of the shuttle and the fact he wasn't properly secured when it went down it was a minor miracle, Una hadn't expected to see him wake up after finding him in a mangled heap on the floor.

When it came to the dislocated shoulder Chris kept the wounded limb out of reach and tried backing away. "Can we just leave that for now?"

"No."

Chris wasn't one to complain with injuries but his arm was throbbing badly and he couldn't get his head around the fact that it would be better after Una yanked it somewhere else. He shivered just thinking about it.

"But you haven't even let me treat you yet, this is hardly life threatening." He tried to shift the attention to his XO but she just threw him a withered look and took his arm in a gentle grip.

"Stop changing the subject, I checked myself over for anything serious." She muttered distractedly before narrowing her eyes and considering him properly, seeing through his feeble attempts to hide just how uneasy he was. "Have you ever had a dislocated shoulder before?"

"Not like this." Chris admitted weakly, glancing nervously at Una's grip on his arm. It already felt like it had been ripped from his body, he _really_ didn't want anymore movement.

Una's expression softened, she looked him in the eye and pursed her lips together unhappily. "I know it hurts now, and yes popping it back in place is gonna sting like hell but trust me when it's done the pain gets much better."

Chris met her gaze and saw just how unhappy she was about this situation too, but if she was saying that it had to be done then he believed her. His faith in his first officer was unshakable.

"Okay, do it." He agreed.

Una nodded firmly and took up a position on his side, levering his arm into place and earning a whimper of pain from him.

She started to count down, "3... 2..." just after 2 Una yanked his arm backwards and downwards until it cracked into place. "1."

Pike barely heard the end of the countdown, he yelled out when the agony hit new heights and it took all he had not to pass out there and then. Just when he thought he couldn't take anymore punishment the burning anguish stated to recede, and before long the pain levels were down to much more manageable levels. He sagged back against the tree trunk and took deep breaths with his eyes squeezed firmly shut, he clutched his hurting arm and eventually the worst of the effects subsided.

Huh, Una had been right about the pain being better now, _of course she had been right..._

He started to utilise his hand and fingers again and was pleasantly surprised to find them more responsive, he had been getting seriously worried about nerve damage earlier.

"You back with us?"

Una's anxious words snapped him out of the daze; he opened his eyes to see her looking at him with mild concern, the tricorder in her hands running over his shoulder.

"Yeah." He gasped, feeling exhausted and wrung out but decidedly better. "The pain is better, thanks."

She smirked after confirming his diagnosis on the tricorder. "Told you."

Chris took one look at her face and the blood still dripping down it and then sat himself up properly, it wasn't half as bad as he had been expecting with the rib support in place and painkillers.

He reached out for the tricorder. "Okay One, It's definitely time to take a look at that head wound."

Una frowned. "But..."

"No buts." Pike interrupted firmly, he wasn't about to let her stubborn streak get the better of him this time. "Captain's orders."

Una huffed unhappily but relinquished the tricorder all the same. So now it was Pike's turn to play Doctor. Chris frowned suspiciously at the readings on the screen. Just like she'd said, there wasn't anything too serious, just some strained ligaments, a nasty contusion on her forehead, a concussion and some bruised bones. Her seat and the safety belts had actually done their job.

After applying some gauze and wraps for her more fragile looking bones, they both declared emergency first aid done with. Now that they were both more alert their training was kicking in, specifically their survival training.

Una started to unpack the bag she had brought out of the shuttle, she'd already found the Starfleet emergency blankets, a torch, water and ration packs. She placed them all on the ground one by one, and then pulled out the final item.

"Look what I found." She showed off the phaser with a satisfied smile, Alec's phaser.

Chris felt dread crash into him like a wave, how had he forgotten about the hijacker?

"Did you see Alec?"

Una's movements halted and she flinched before schooling her expression once more. "What about him."

"Was he alive?" Chris pressed the point, why was she playing dumb?

"Probably, I wasn't really in the mood to check after what he did and what he was planning to do."

Ah, that was why. Una never had been a forgiving person, nor a compromising one despite Pike's best efforts to impart his ways to her.

He sighed tiredly and summoned up the strength to restart their life long argument. "Una…"

"What?" She snapped, dropping the backpack and supplies and throwing him a deeply unimpressed look.

But no, Chris wouldn't back down, he couldn't. "We can't just leave him in there, he could die."

Her nostrils flares and her eyes widened comically. "So this was your thinking right?"

Chris couldn't keep up with the change in direction; he blinked, confused. "I'm sorry?"

"When you strapped him in lieu of yourself and nearly died." Number One replied sardonically, whilst giving him the evil eye for good measure.

Chris felt suitably mollified, just as he always did with Una. "I thought I had the time to get the both of us in." He meekly tried to defend his actions.

"Bullshit." One called out vehemently, seeing through his reasoning. "You couldn't put yourself first, even against a scumbag like him."

Her anger tailed off with her words to be replaced by melancholy, she dropped her gaze and took a breath to hold the emotions back. Chris felt incredible guilt crash down on him again, not for doing what he thought was right, but for leaving Una to deal with the aftermath alone. His choices had consequences, and as such he had to own them.

"No, I couldn't. I'm sorry." he finished sincerely, trying to convey with his eyes just how much he meant that. The last thing he ever wanted to do was cause his XO any pain, and he'd inadvertently done that.

Una's features softened, she let out a weary sigh and her lips quirked upwards. "You're insufferable sometimes you know that?"

"I know." Pike smirked back. He actually felt some of the tension between them dissipate.

At the end of the day they were both too set in their ways to be anything other than this. Pike would always put others before himself, regardless of the consequences, and Una would be there to curb that particular trait because sometimes, just sometimes it was the wrong thing to do. He could be blind to that.

Una coughed, breaking the slightly awkward silence. "Well, bad news aside, and despite our hijacker's best efforts I managed to send off a distress call before the instruments were shot to shit."

"Who to?" Pike asked distractedly, glancing at the shuttle.

"The city about the impending attack, hopefully they were able to intercept other shuttles trying the same thing. And Enterprise, although I don't know if either of them received the message..." Number One tailed off at the end, letting the consequence of that hang in the air.

Pike picked up the trail morbidly. "And if there were further attacks then the emergency services are going to be busy for some time."

"We're on our own out here." Una surmised.

Pike slumped back against the forest floor dejectedly, their emergency first aid would have to last, not to mention their supplies. The Captain glanced at the shuttle and came to a decision, if help really was far away then they couldn't afford to just let a man die no matter his crimes. The question was, did he even have the strength to drag Alec out?

Una clocked where he was staring and sighed. "You want me to go and get him don't you."

"I could…"

"Don't be an idiot," Una interrupted firmly before giving him and his arm a withering glare. "I've only just set that arm. You couldn't lift him even if you were stupid enough to try."

Chris smiled bashfully. He appreciated Una's no-nonsense attitude, especially when it came to him. "Sorry for being so useless."

Una got to her feet with a grunt and stretched out her stiff muscles. "I'm used to it." She replied with a sardonic smile, long-suffering as usual.

Pike purposefully ignored the insult and replied in an equally dry tone. "Thanks."

Number One shook her head at him incredulously, she grabbed the phaser and handed it down to him. "Look after this whilst I go play Doctor."


	3. Chapter 3

Chris made himself busy whilst Una was inside the shuttle, he started to sort through their emergency supplies and rations to see exactly what they had to work with. From what Number One had salvaged, they had enough food and water for three days. He wasn't too worried about running out of food though, he and Una had been through enough survival training to last out here in the wilderness besides, he reckoned they hadn't gone down too far from civilisation. The thing he was most worried about was their injuries. Whilst neither of them would die in the next few hours, if they had to travel then that could change and there was always a chance of infection being out in the elements…

He was interrupted from his muses by Una's return. She dragged the limp and bloodied body of their hijacker over to him, she was struggling with the weight and Pike started to push himself up off the floor, aiming to help.

Una glanced back at him and her eyebrows rose dangerously high. "Don't you dare get up Pike. I'm serious."

Her deadly glare was enough to prove him of that fact. Chris gulped and nodded, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm staying right here." He indicated with his head to the limp man in Una's arms. "Is he alive?"

Number One grunted the rest of the way of her journey, she dropped him to the ground a few metres from where Chris was sprawled; he could see that Alec was at the very least unconscious. "He's got a pulse, but beyond that I don't know the extent of his injuries. From what the trio-corder's telling me, the seat protected him from the worst of the crash."

"Good." Chris muttered, he didn't want him to die when there could be another option. Judging by Una's scowl she clearly didn't agree with him.

"I think the bastard should have suffered a little more." She spat and started to walk away from him, "for what he did to you and for trying to bomb a bloody city."

"That's not our call to make." Pike gently reminded her.

Number One ran a hand over her face wearily and moaned. "I know I know, we can't sit in judgment." She came to stand just above him, her eyes running over his bruises and injuries caused by the hijacking. "Doesn't make it any easier."

"I didn't say it was easier."

"The right decisions never are." Una shrugged and shook her head, she glanced around the crash site and seemed to come to some sort of decision. "I'm going to go and scout the area, see what's nearby and if I can scrounge some materials. Are you going to be alright here?"

Pike noticed that her eyes flicked over to Alec once again who still hadn't moved. "I'll be fine." He promised.

Chris was already getting a little sick of being on his ass, he wanted to build up his strength so he could maybe do something actually useful. Although he had to admit that the idea might be wishful thinking, honestly he thought he was just as likely to pass out any second. Which brought him to the other matter of Alec... Chris handed the phaser back to his XO. Una took it but threw him a questioning look.

"I don't want to have it on me incase I pass out..." He paused and averted his gaze, oddly feeling a bit embarrassed about admitting his own mortality. Chris took a breath and finished his thought process "...I don't want to pass out and let our friendly hijacker get the chance to re-arm himself."

Una made an _ahhing_ sound and glared over at Alec like this line of thinking was all his fault, which to be fair it kind of was. She looked back to him and winked. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon and we can get you back on your feet."

Chris managed a smile despite the miserable situation, he held her warm gaze and thanked whatever higher power there was: that out of everyone, he was stuck here with her. She always knew how to lift him out of his lowest moments.

"Thanks One."

She picked up one of the emptier bags and waved before striding off. "I won't be far," she promised.

Chris watched her leave the clearing and soon enough it was just him and his unconscious companion, well the two of them and what remained of their ripped-to-shreds shuttle.

* * *

With little else to do Chris decided to take a look at the communicators that One had managed to salvage from the wreckage; he didn't have any luck with their own device but Alec's was a different story. The device itself looked to be intact but Chris couldn't get his head around the controls and from what he could tell it required a passcode, and the man himself was still out cold.

Pike sighed and tossed the pieces of equipment back into the backpack, he didn't have the skill nor patience to worry about breaking through Alec's encryption and even if he did - what if the signal was tracked down by his people? It was best left alone until absolutely necessary, Una had already used the shuttle's distress system and their shuttle wreckage would be visible from a mile away.

He decided to turn his attention to the considerable discomfort of having a dislocated shoulder, the pain had gotten better since his XO had set the limb back in place but every time he knocked it, it felt like it was being ripped off. He knew from basic first aid that the only way to lessen the pain was to immobilise the limb, that wasn't exactly possible but what he could do was create a make-shift sling. He ripped off the arms of his ruined jacked and tied the material together until he had a secure loop, with that done Chris slung the material around his neck and gingerly looped his arm through the material.

Chris was so busy dealing with his limb, and making pained noises with each movement, that he didn't hear Alec awakening and more importantly he didn't hear him approach. The first thing he knew of the danger he was in was when he heard a tree branch snap a few metres behind him.

Pike instinctively turned to the noise and when he saw that not only was Alec up and about, but also a few metres from him with a weapon in his hand, he tried to back away from the surprise attack and called out desperately. "Una!"

Chris' call-out was soon muffled when his attacker's hand appeared from above and clamped over his mouth; his struggles were dampened when an arm snaked around his neck and a sharp implement scraped against his throat. Chris struggled against the hold violently and cried out against the hand when his dislocated arm was yanked backwards during the jostling. His legs kicked out wildly in an attempt to get purchase, and in an attempt to get away from the madman who was causing him harm. Sadly, Alec didn't let the escape attempt progress far.

"Stop struggling or I'll slit your throat." The command was hissed against his ear and accompanied by a sharp burning against his neck.

The threat on its own wasn't quite enough to still him but the feel of metal slicing through his flesh, along with warm blood trickling down his throat did the trick. He immediately ceased his struggles, closed his eyes to control the panic and breathed heavily against the fingers muffling his moans of discomfort. As soon as he stopped struggling, the knife retracted to rest against his skin and Pike breathed a sigh of relief when the searing pain decreased.

He waited in tense silence with the knowledge that his life was in another's hands. Would Alec finish the job? Would it hurt too badly? Would the cut kill him or would he suffer? Chris would rather not find out, and with the way his head was pounding he wasn't sure if he was going to remain conscious to do so.

He felt Alec shift behind him and tense up, his head swung upwards to the clearing and the pair of them heard footsteps, footsteps which were approaching fast.

_Una…_

Pike's heart-rate shot through the roof as he realised his danger was about to be transferred onto his first officer, who was running to his rescue because he had stupidly called out without thinking of the consequences. In the next instant the hand was released from his mouth and Alec gripped his less-injured arm and pulled.

"Come on, get up." Alec continued to pull him upwards earning an agonised cry when his ribs and shoulder got knocked violently, the knife persistently followed his throat up which made wriggling away impossible. "On your knees."

Chris was panting and struggling to cling onto consciousness as Alec yanked him up the rest of the way, causing his broken ribs to shift despite the wrapping and his dislocated arm to grind painfully against the socket. After a lot of cursing and pained grunts from both sides, Pike was on his knees, his arm was in a crushing grip and held behind his back, and the knife was pressed against his throat until his neck was forced right back.

That was around the same time that Una made it back into the clearing and everything went to hell.

She came to a stop as soon as she saw the scene, her eyes widened in shock and the phaser in her hand automatically tracked upwards. Chris could feel her worried gaze piercing him from all angles. Alec shrunk down behind his hostage further and pressed the knife against Pike's throat until he was forced to grunt in response.

"Ah, ah ah." His attacker warned. "Weapon down or he dies."

Chris felt it necessary to add his own thoughts on that stupid idea. "Don't do it Una, he'll kill-"

His speech was cut short by a cry of pain when Alec yanked his arm up behind his back and brutally twisted the limb. Chris closed his eyes and focussed on breathing whilst the pain receded, only after his continued silence did the hold gradually decrease but Alec still kept him pressed against his chest. By the time Pike opened his eyes again he saw that Una was frozen to the spot, her rapid blinking giving away her anxiety and uncertainty; she didn't have a clue what to do. Chris could hardly blame her, finding your partner with a knife to their throat was not a usual situation.

Una took a deep breath, readjusted her grip on the phaser and growled out a warning. "If you don't let him go right now-"

Alec pressed the knife against Chris' head further and shook his body roughly, interrupting Number One with a demand of his own. "You'll what? I can kill him before you can stop me."

Una's eyes blazed furiously and her gaze snapped to the knife which was pressing against the Captain's carotid dangerously, one slip away from ending his life for good. "If you kill him, I kill you."

"Did you forget the end result of my mission? I'm prepared to die. Unless you're prepared to watch him bleed out then you're the one who needs to surrender."

Chris couldn't see his attackers expression but he sounded sincere and he did have a point about the suicide mission… Just because he was sure that Alec would follow through with his threat didn't mean that Una had to die too. Chris tired to make that clear, which didn't go well.

"Don't-" Pike started before his attacker cut him off with another effective jerk off his injured shoulder.

"Shut it." Alec snarled against his ear.

"You've got 3 seconds." Alec turned his attention back to Number One, he tightened his grip on his captive and the knife and made one final threat. "I mean it."

Chris had said his piece, he hoped Una wasn't going to be stupid enough to give up her only form of defence all just to save him, but judging by the anguished look on her face he was starting to think that she might...

"3."

Alec's countdown only made the situation worse, Una's grip on the phaser trembled and her eyes darted nervously from the knife to Pike's face. He shook his head minutely, wanting to let her know that she shouldn't do what he thought she was about to.

"2."

Una's composure cracked and as usual her stubbornness and independent nature prevailed, she lowered the phaser and called out shakily. "Okay, stop."

Pike closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Why didn't she ever listen to him? When it mattered at least, when it was her life on the line...

"Toss it over here." Alec barked out the order sharply, indicating with his head to a point on his right.

Una shot him an apologetic look before returning her attention to their tormentor. She nodded placatingly and threw the weapon over to the designated location, watching it forlornly as soon as it left her safe hands.

Why did she have to let it go? Alec could very well kill the both of them now, losing his own life was bad enough but Chris didn't want to see his XO dead because he hadn't been quick enough to react. Whilst it was true that his injuries made fighting off a knife-wielding attacker pretty damn difficult, he should have done something more; Alec had been too damn fast. Come to mention it, how had he moved so quickly after the shuttle crash? It was hardly fair that their hijacker be the least injured after causing the catastrophe, but that was life for you; it was rarely fair.

"We saved your life." Chris managed to ground out against the hold, even if it did take him a while to get the words out past the knife against his throat.

"That was your choice." Alec shot back mercilessly. "Live with the consequences."

Una shifted her glare from their kidnapper to Pike and Chris could saw the unspoken words written all over her face - I told you so. If they survived this, Chris knew he'd be hearing about his naivety for months.

Alec interrupted their silent conversation with a shout. "Get down on the floor, legs apart and hands on your head."

Number One clenched her jaw, showing her displeasure, but she relented all the same. She lowered herself to the floor gingerly; she tried to hide the grimaces where her injuries flared up but Pike caught it all regardless. He sympathised when she gasped upon lowering, clutching at her ribs before continuing. He knew that agony well, he was currently living it. When she placed her hands on her head Alec finally made his move; he withdrew the knife and gave Pike a huge shove forward.

Chris yelped when he found himself falling forward uncontrollably, he cried out in agony when his broken body hit the ground, hard. The worst of the pain originated from his wrapped up shoulder, which was now trapped painfully between his chest and the floor. Shockwaves were still travelling up his limb, through his broken ribs and along every bruised muscle within his body, which sadly was quite a lot.

He heard footsteps wander away and was pretty sure Alec now had control of the phaser, not that he could check with his own eyes. Chris had them squeezed shut and was trying to focus on refilling his lungs with air, that had been unceremoniously emptied after his sudden impact with something solid. The feeling of the ground beneath him started to fade away and the pain in his chest dulled to an aching feeling. The last thing Pike heard before everything fell away was Una urgently whispering his name...

* * *

Chris came to with a moan, nearly every part of his body protested being awakened and he soon found out that even trying to move was a bad idea. He took a few deep breaths, gritted his teeth, clenched his hands against the jungle floor and tried opening his eyes. He lifted his head slowly and tried blinking away his double vision, it worked to an extent and he managed to make out Una lying across from him, her worried eyes locked on his.

Pike moaned when a wave of nausea washed over him, he tried to shift into a more comfortable position and ran into two major blocks. The first being his dislocated shoulder and the fact that it was excruciating if he tried to move at all; the second was Alec.

"Hey!" Alec barked out a warning, getting Chris' attention whilst he waved the phaser in his general direction menacingly. "Keep your head down and don't move."

Chris focussed on their hijacker and the weapon held securely in his hand, after seeing his furious expression Pike let his body relax into the ground and he nodded submissively.

Alec glared at him for a full 5-count before his attention was stolen by something more important; he made a threatening gesture with the gun and mouthed 'stay there' before going back to his communicator.

Chris gulped nervously and turned his attention back to Una; she was still staring at him and the frown on her forehead was deepening. He must not have looked a pretty sight, he certainly didn't feel pretty.

She threw a cautious sideways glance over to Alec and after seeing him engaged deep in conversation, she mouthed to him. "Are you okay?"

Pike didn't even know how to answer that, he felt awful, everything ached and half his body felt broken but he was still breathing and it wasn't like anything could be done about his medical condition at gunpoint, so he downplayed his injuries and managed a strained smile.

"I'm still breathing." He mouthed back, which earned a stifled snort and a head shake from Una. Before he got the chance to ask her how she was feeling, Alec stormed closer and made several threatening gestures at once which shut them up and made them face the ground.

With the option of communication snatched away Chris just had to go on what he could see. Una looked the same as before and her eyes had been alert albeit brimming with anger, but that was to be expected given the givens. He just had to hope that she hadn't been roughed up anymore since he'd been unconscious, and that Alec wasn't planning on using that weapon anytime soon...

Which brought him onto the rather troubling query - what was the former hijacker going to do with them?

Pike tried to listen in on Alec's conversation hoping to hear any indication on the next steps, or possibly about their fates. He couldn't hear a lot of what was repeated over the communicator, but he got the general gist of the conversation and it wasn't pretty.

Alec had made contact with his people; they weren't happy that he had failed his mission, but they were intrigued by the idea of him and Una. Their reputation clearly proceeded them, which for once was not a good thing. Pike's anxiety started to grow at an alarming rate when his and Una's names were mentioned more often, alongside the phrases - ransom, federation hostages, and make an example out of them.

However his anxiety really hit the roof when Alec's people said they were coming to collect them, all of them.

Alec shut off the communicator and turned to stare at his two captives thoughtfully, after a few moments he made off towards the shuttle, not before warning the both of them not to move. Chris and Una kept their heads down for a few minutes, not wanting to earn the ire of their very hostile abductor, so all they had to go on was sounds. Pike heard Alec throw things out of the shuttle and rifle through compartments, he was clearly looking for something.

Chris and Una both risked a peek at the same time and smiled at one another despite the circumstances; they were both so in tune sometimes it was scary how alike they were. The smiles were ripped off their faces when they spotted Alec coming back, carrying rope. Of course the rope was supposed to be used for emergencies, or cliffside traversing alongside climbing gear but Chris highly doubted that was what Alec had in mind for it.

His suspicions were confirmed when the gunman made a beeline for Number One, took out his knife, and started to slice the rope into smaller lengths.

"Now." He said, addressing the both of them. "We're all going to go on a little trip, and I can't have you running around freely. So, you're going to cooperate and if either of you try anything stupid, I'll kill the other." He threatened, pointedly staring between them. "Understand?"

As threats went it was extreme and effective. Pike would risk his own life and so would Una, but each other's? That was a whole different matter altogether.

Chris and Una both nodded mutely which caused Alec to grin winningly. He walked around the back of Una and waved his phaser at Pike. "You, face down until I say so or I'll start using this thing."

Pike gulped heavily but did as instructed. He did have to question why the threat was even necessary in the first place, he doubted he was able to stand at this point without making a hell of a lot of fuss, never mind jumping an armed opponent. Whilst Chris kept his face down in the dirt he heard Una's struggles, he had to clench his jaw shut tightly so he didn't blurt out an angry retort, he almost didn't manage that when Una cried out in pain.

After a few minutes the struggling noises ceased and there were footsteps coming towards him. Before Chris knew what was happening, an arm grabbed his good shoulder and started to pull him upwards. He gasped and bit back a cry throughout the procedure, once or twice he thought he was going to pass out but he managed to hold back the tide until he was upright and kneeling, even if he did feel like he was going to spew up everywhere any second.

He opened his eyes and noticed that Alec was standing beside him, staring down at his sling with distaste. The gunman prodded the limb experimentally causing Pike to yelp out and clutch at his arm protectively, trying to pull it away from the madman with the gun.

"I'm guessing if I wrench that arm back you're probably going to pass out." Alec muttered coldly, he wasn't concerned about the agony that it would cause Pike, simply the logistics.

Hearing the proposed idea made Chris' blood run cold. If the prod sent fire up his arm then he didn't want to even imagine the misery of having his limb tied behind him, so because of that he found himself being surprisingly honest with his captor. "Probably."

Alec considered him for a moment, glanced over to Una who was still laying face down in the dirt with her hands bound behind her, and then back to Pike. He picked at a length of rope and seemed to come to a decision. The gunman surged forwards and knelt down beside Chris, barking an order as he went to grab for his hands. "Hands out and together."

Pike gasped when Alec tugged on his bad arm but still managed to stifle a larger outcry. His captor roughly shoved his wrists together and started to wrap rope around them, tightly. When Alec was done he tied off the rope and threw Chris another wary glare before getting to his feet. The gunman quickly went over to the rucksacks full of supplies, he restocked them with what he had found in the shuttle and slung the backpack over his shoulders.

Alec waved the phaser in their direction and motioned for the pair of them to get to their feet; Chris managed to after a whole lot of stumbling and cursing but Una didn't have much luck. What did Alec expect? She was injured, stuck on the floor and she had her hands bound behind her back.

The gunman huffed in annoyance and he strode over to her position, hauling her up unceremoniously and with no concern for any of her injuries.

Una hissed in pain and glared at her attacker, Alec just smiled and held up a long length of rope. "I'm afraid you're going to hate this part even more Commander."


	4. Chapter 4

Pike stumbled over his feet for the umpteenth time and swore under his breath, he quickly had to adjust and correct his balance before he fell flat on his face and took Una with him. They were attached together by a tethered rope system, which was ridiculously rather like a leash. Pike had a rope looped around his bound wrists, tied around his waist and which led behind to Una. It was then tied around her waist and then finally leading backwards to their kidnapper, who held the rope which kept them effectively linked to him. Alec had been right about them not liking what he had in mind...

After a few more minutes of blindly leading the way, Pike felt a tugging at his chest. He glanced down and noticed that the rope was starting to constrict and it wasn't long until he couldn't move forward at all, not only that but the tugging motion strained his cracked ribs badly making him hiss. Chris winced and came to a stop, taking the hint and gritting his teeth to stop from calling out. He was sick of being pulled around, and judging by Number One's huff she was too.

Chris glanced backwards and searched for the reason for the abrupt stop, he noticed that their kidnapper was glancing around the area looking for something, and also that he seemed to be struggling to stay upright. This was the first sign of weakness from Alec, and frankly it had been a long time coming. They had all been in a shuttle crash, how could it be possible that he and Una got knocked up and had to contend with broken bones whilst the man who was responsible walked away scot-free? Pike wasn't one to revel in other's pain but there was something quite satisfying about seeing the wince appearing on their captor's face; maybe he wouldn't push them so fast now he was hurting too. Chris felt like he was going to collapse any second and Una didn't look much better.

Alec turned back to the two of them and released the rope. "5 minutes rest."

Chris blinked in surprise. The order wasn't unwelcome but it was a surprise given the pace Alec had made them keep, he'd wanted to get them all as far away from the shuttle wreckage as possible and towards the rendezvous point. His injuries had clearly outweighed that urgency.

Pike glanced to Una who looked just as shocked and weary as he did. What they really needed was a real rest, before they both keeled over. He decided to try and push his luck. "Can we sit?"

Alec had already headed over to his own tree and was in the process of sitting himself. He regarded them both silently, leaving the two of them waiting in tense stillness for his judgement. Having their health, comfort and lives in another's hands was not a pleasant experience.

"Over by that tree, where I can keep an eye on you." Alec finally decided, showing some compassion or perhaps indifference for the first time since this whole nightmare had begun.

Chris and Una shared a look but wisely kept their mouths shut; never look a gift-horse in the mouth no matter where it came from.

Seeing as Pike was the only one who had use of his hands, he helped Una down onto the floor first and then settled down beside her, leaning back against the tree with a weary sigh. Una managed a strained smile his way and settled in close to his side, finding comfort in touch despite the fact that they were tied up, blown up and one wrong word away from death.

Pike noticed Alec go through the bag holding the emergency rations, the kidnapper took out a bottle of water and guzzled half the contents in one long swig. Chris licked his lips despite himself, it was funny how quickly the human body craved the miraculous liquid, especially when injured. Their captor noticed their staring and more importantly the object of their attention. He smirked from them to the bottle, shrugged and lobbed it towards Pike.

Chris picked up the bottle carefully, half-expecting to be shot whilst doing it or for something else equally nasty to happen. This was _really_ strange behaviour from the man who had been so callous up until now. Alec read his expression easily, he chuckled and offered an explanation. "Don't want you dying on me now."

"I didn't know you cared." Pike quipped back thoughtlessly.

Alec could have reacted badly but he just snorted. "Yes Captain, my group care very much about your continued existence." He tilted his head. "I wonder if Starfleet do?"

It was said as a joke but there was a serious edge to the tone. Chris swallowed some water and then held the bottle out to Una before responding. "They won't negotiate with you, no matter what you threaten."

Alec looked mightily pleased with himself and brushed the comment off. "We'll see."

Chris decided the best course of action was to bite his tongue and keep his gob shut, an overconfident captor could be of use to them, and what did it matter if Alec didn't believe him? Sadly, Pike knew their fates if demands were made of Starfleet, and they wouldn't be pretty.

Una moved her mouth away from the bottle and smiled gratefully at Chris. He took another swig himself and threw the bottle back to their captor on his indication. The trio relaxed, well, as well as they could given their respective roles. Alec kept a wary eye on them both and his weapon within reach, whilst Una and Chris took the moment afforded to them to rest. What they really needed was medical treatment but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon so there was no point in wishful thinking.

Pike was content to simply take a breather, but Una being Una hated sitting still and she wanted answers. "Why were you trying to blow a hole in the city?"

Alec glanced upwards, surprised over being addressed. He seemed to deliberate the point for a moment before shrugging and giving a straight forward answer. "Money."

Pike had been paying half his attention on the conversation and the other half on battling the knives stabbing his brain, but when he heard the simplistic answer he shot up and frowned at their kidnapper, mirroring his XO's expression perfectly.

"I'm sorry what?" They squeaked in unison.

Alec laughed mockingly, throwing his head back in amusement. "Were you expecting some grand speech about us fighting for freedom, or the need to overthrow a tyrannical government? The truth is nothing quite so dramatic. We demand money and resources from people, cities, organisations and if they don't cough up then... boom!"

Both Chris and Una stared at Alec, mouths hung open in silent horror. Even when they'd thought they'd seen it all, when they'd seen the worst the world had to offer, someone like Alec came along and disillusioned them of that fact.

"That's insane." Una eventually muttered, her scowl deepening by the second.

Alec shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't knock it until you try it."

Chris saw one major flaw through this belief, one which made the whole point of this sound even crazier than Alec claimed. "But your mission was supposed to be a one way trip. What's the point of being in it for the money if you're dead?"

Pike and Number One both caught their captor flinch despite his best efforts to hide it. They'd obviously hit a sore spot, so much so that the smile slipped off his face, he averted his gaze and started to push himself to his feet. "They're not all one-way trips. I was just unlucky enough to pull the short straw."

"And you went ahead with it anyway?" Una probed, incredulous expression in place, her sneer showing just what she thought of their kidnapper's intelligence right about now.

Alec stretched out his aching muscles, wincing less than earlier. He managed a strained smile and laughed darkly. "You don't say no to these people, that's a much quicker way into the grave." He trailed off and stared into the distance, leaving Chris and Una to share a glance, a worried glance. They had thought that Alec was bad enough but if even he was scared of his own people…

Alec suddenly turned his attention back to the both of them. He slung the backpack over his shoulder, withdrew the phaser and picked up the length of rope which leashed Pike and Una together. They both tensed up and eyed the weapon warily, not relishing the idea of being on the move again.

"Besides I survived and I've more than made up for the failed mission." A smile broke out upon Alec's face and his mood lifted as he stared at the pair of them and more specifically at their predicament; under his power and control. He tugged on the rope which earned a pained grunt from the pair and ordered them to their feet, Chris helped Una up whilst their captor continued to voice his thoughts. "now that I've caught two bonafide Starfleet heroes. You may not realise it, but you two are going to make us a lot of money."

* * *

Chris glanced upwards automatically when he heard the sound of engines, it wasn't long before the cacophony of noise flew right over them and the trio saw a shuttle gliding through the treetops. Pike's first reaction had been one of relief, naturally thinking that help had come; the look on Alec's face obliterated that thought though. He looked chuffed to bits meaning this was clearly his shuttle and his people, not help and certainly not a good development for he or Una.

During their long hike Alec had finally let slip just why they were walking so far away from the crash site. Their kidnapper couldn't risk communicating in the forest, not with the chance of other ships picking up the messages, other ships that were looking for Pike and Number One. Transports were out of the question due to the planet's natural interference which was only made worse in the deep forest, hence their only option for egress was an in person meeting, where they would become greatly outnumbered by more people who wished them harm.

So, realistically they had two choices: follow Alec like pigs to the slaughter, or go against him and potentially walk into an early death. Neither option held that much appeal but Chris knew which one he'd prefer; he would rather do something and die trying. The worst part was the uncertainty of it all, what would Alec's people do with them?

Whatever it was it sure wasn't going to be pretty. If Alec's people took them then there was no telling if Enterprise would ever find them again. Whether they became political prisoners, hostages or even slaves... that was not a future either of them wanted to roll the dice on. So they'd been saving their energy, biding their time. They'd managed to talk a little during their break, and they'd both decided that they would rather try and get away from their captor before the choice was taken from them. It was all a question of when. The appearance of the shuttle rather limited their time-line.

In fact, as soon as the shuttle flew overhead, Pike and Una shared a glance, a glance which said so much without words. This was their chance, it was now or never.

Chris let his XO take the lead seeing as he was in front and the one with use of his hands, he waited for the signal that things had started and wasn't disappointed to feel the rope tugging at his chest. He came to a natural stop and glanced behind him, making sure to look bewildered and surprised by the sudden stop. Alec paid him no mind anyway; all of his attention was on Number One which was exactly the point.

Pike stayed rooted to the spot to ensure that Alec kept his attention off of him, all the while Una played up her injuries and staggered against a nearby tree trunk dramatically.

"Come on, get a move on." Alec snarled, his hand hovering near his holstered phaser.

Una coughed and spluttered in response and waited for Alec to let his guard down further, she waited for him to come close. Their captor took one last look at Chris, who was still acting innocently and as though he was taking the break as a respite, before stepping towards Number One intending to haul her forwards. That was when she made her move.

Una faked dropping to the ground; she dropped her shoulder and charged forward when her kidnapper moved in. Alec let out a strangled cry and flew backwards under the sudden shoulder barge. Even though Una had her hands restrained, she still packed one hell of a punch.

Chris moved as quickly as he could manage and it wasn't long before he was behind their captor, and grabbing at his hands which were already reaching for the phaser. Whilst Pike wrestled to keep the deadly weapon holstered and Alec in place, Una launched herself at the man again. Her options were rather limited but her restrained hands didn't constrain her legs, so as soon as she caught her breath she launched a vicious roundhouse kick straight at Alec's stomach.

Their captor crumpled instantly and his hands flew to clutch at his stomach. Chris took advantage of the weakness afforded to him; he looped his bound hands around Alec's neck and yanked backwards until he had the kidnapper in a powerful head lock. Chris kept up the pressure despite the struggles, despite the resistance and despite the strangled noises for breath. Alec fought him all the way towards unconsciousness, he clawed at his arms, kicked backwards with his legs and even tried head butting him once or twice.

The first attempt glanced Chris on the side of the face, it left him reeling and added another bruise to his collection but he held on all the same. Pike didn't let Alec get another hit in. He held onto his throat tightly, all the while their captor sunk towards the floor and his body sagged under the oxygen deprivation. After 30 seconds of wild thrashing their kidnapper fell limp, his eyes closed and the strangled noises stopped.

Chris took a deep breath and slowly released the heavy pressure on Alec's neck, all his muscles were protesting the scuffle and all he wanted to do in this moment was lie alongside Alec and join him in blissful oblivion, but they had an escape to pull off.

Pike eased himself up into a kneeling position and helped Una up from where she had fallen. "You okay?"

She seemed to be having trouble catching his eye but she looked happier after seeing Alec's dismal state. "Better than him."

Chris snorted and shook his head. If Una was up for making jokes then she was okay enough. Pike rolled their unconscious kidnapper over and searched his pockets until he found what he was looking for: the knife. He sliced through Number One's ropes as quickly as he could manage and she returned the favour. They both made quick work of going through Alec's pockets, relieving him of the blasted gun and his communicator.

Pike looked wildly around the clearing, trying to orientate where they were and the route they had taken to get here. The struggle had rather turned things upside down and with his and Una's shitty vision, they weren't in the best state to be navigating through a foreign jungle.

He was about to ask for his XO's advice, on exactly which direction they should go in first. However the unspoken words died on his lips when the sound of shouting echoed throughout the treetops, sending birds fluttering in all directions. They both snapped to the increasing volume; Chris' blood ran cold when he calculated that the oncoming noise was coming from the direction the shuttle had been heading...

Pike and Una both looked from the sound of danger to each other and suggested at the same time - 'let's get the hell out of here.'

* * *

Getting the hell out of there was exactly what the pair of them did. They confiscated their former captor's rucksack and headed off into the jungle, for the moment simply focussing on getting as far from Alec and the path they had been on as they could. They'd both agreed to expend what little energy they had left on moving out of the danger zone now and sit and come up with a plan later; if they got that far...

Chris wasn't a pessimist by nature but everything on this trip that could have gone wrong had gone wrong, so he kept expecting Alec's people to jump out at them any second, or for something else catastrophically bad to happen to the pair of them. They were really due a stroke of luck, which was why it was frustrating that the communicator Una had stolen from Alec wasn't getting any signal.

"Anything?" Pike asked, although he could already guess the answer based on Una's expression.

Her lips were pursed and her forehead creased further with each passing second. "Nothing." She snarled at the thing, her eyes darting desperately around the space. "We need to get to higher ground, there's too much interference down here."

Chris balked at the news, he barely felt like he could walk 10 more steps let alone hike to higher ground. His chest was getting tighter with each breath, the ribs Una had wrapped were shifting more and he was pretty sure his scuffle with Alec had done further damage. The more the adrenaline of the fight wore off, the more pain he felt. Even his shoulder had somehow gotten worse, all he could focus on was putting one foot in front of the other and pray he didn't collapse. He was slowing Una down, she needed to get on and leave him to it, she couldn't drag him around forever.

"Una..." he huffed, already out of breath. "I can't walk for much longer."

She stopped suddenly and appraised him, quickly seeing the sweat dripping down his face and noticing the incredible misery he was in, as well as the new bruises, cuts and blood seeping through what remained of his clothes. Now that they had stopped Pike found it impossible to stay on his feet another second longer, so he leant towards a nearby tree trunk and grasped onto it with all he had.

Una caught him before he fell completely, her expression exasperated as she supported his wounded shoulder. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"We were a little busy." Chris pointed out. There was nothing quite like the adrenaline rush from running for your lives.

Una's sympathetic expression scoured his body; her eyes stilled when she caught just how badly he was breathing and how little control he had over his limbs. "Still." She muttered sadly.

"It wouldn't have made a difference, we needed to get out of there." Chris closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, he put more of his weight against the tree trunk and prepared himself for the oncoming argument. "Just like you need to get to higher ground."

Una narrowed her eyes at him darkly. "I am not leaving you behind."

Pike recognised that look, the one which was born of the most stubborn iron-will he had ever seen. It was too bad for his XO that he could be just as stubborn, and frankly in this situation he was right. "You have to, I'm just slowing you down. If you don't then neither of us will make it out of here."

Una looked about ready to explode, she took a moment to control herself and responded viscerally. "No."

Chris got caught up in a coughing fit at just the wrong time, he clutched his chest and managed to groan out a feeble protest, already knowing that his body's moment of weakness had just proved his first officer's point. "Una-"

"I said I'm not doing it." She snapped back resolutely. "We can find another way."

Pike stared her down but knew he was fighting a losing battle, he didn't have the energy for this, he barely had the energy to stay upright any longer. He just wanted this nightmare over, but most importantly he wanted them both to make it through this. If his XO could conjure up a miracle solution then he would take it, he would follow her anywhere.

"What other way?" Pike managed a gasp.

Una's eyes widened and she was visibly surprised that he was backing down so easily. Number One was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she accepted the responsibility and took charge. Pike watched as her eyes scanned the surroundings and he saw the moment she settled on a plan. "I'll take the communicator to the top of a tree, these branches look sturdy enough to hold my weight."

Chris frowned at the tree in question and gulped; his muscles ached even just thinking about such an arduous climb whilst injured, let alone actually undertaking such a feat. "We've just been in a shuttle crash. I don't think it's a good idea to climb."

Una shrugged whilst studying the tree, figuring out the easiest route up considering her more fragile condition. "It'll be no worse than hiking to higher ground." She offered him a wry smile. "And this way I get to check up on you and make sure you don't get to nobly fall on your sword."

Chris threw her a deeply unimpressed look. "I do not do that."

Una snorted and shook her head. "You may fool command with that line but not me."

Pike gasped when a particularly nasty spasm forced his legs to buckle, Una caught him and helped ease him to the floor, propping him up against the base of the tree she was proposing to climb. Sitting lessened the burden on his strained system so it didn't take long for his breathing to even out, and his ribs were thanking him for the lack of movement. Number One made sure to adjust his hand-made sling and did something with her hands which felt damn-right magical.

Chris let his head thunk back against the bark and let out a deep sigh of relief, his whole body had been strung so tight but now his muscles were finally being allowed to relax and recover. When he opened his eyes he saw that Una was smiling down at him sadly, she noticed his wrapped ribs were shot to hell and set about rearranging and tightening the bandages.

"You sure you can do this?" Pike asked through gritted teeth as Number One secured the wrappings around his chest.

"I'll manage." Una answered distractedly. When she finished off the most urgent care, she removed the phaser from her belt and gently pushed it into his hands. "Try and stay awake, I know it's hard."

"I didn't think you'd notice."

The irony wasn't lost on him that he could currently see three of her.

"I notice everything." Number One laughed heartily which hit Chris like a breath of fresh air. She stilled all of a sudden, swallowed and leant in to press her lips against his forehead. "I'll be back soon."

Pike watched her rise, already missing her warmth and laughter. His skin still tingled from where her lips had touched him. Una walked over to the first branch and grabbed hold, Chris knew he should break through his frozen state to say something but that kiss had rather stolen his thoughts.

"Be careful." Was all he could manage and even that came out broken.

Number One smirked back at him, most likely knowing exactly why he was so flustered. "You too."

Chris indicated his seated position with his hands and quipped. "I'm sitting down, how much trouble am i going to get in?"

Una barked a laugh, shaking her head whilst muttering. "If only you knew…"


	5. Chapter 5

Number One made short work of her tree climb; it wasn't long before Chris lost sight of her entirely. He heard her try the radio a few times before her voice started to trail off as she climbed higher and higher to find a signal. The only sign Pike had of his XO's wellbeing was the slight rustling of leaves whenever she climbed. He felt guilty that Una was having do to all the work whilst he literally lay useless at the base of the tree. He hated sitting this out and he despised his weakening body for failing him in a time of crisis.

Realistically he knew that adrenaline and sheer stubbornness had carried him this far, and that nobody would expect to last or travel for quite so long after that shuttle crash, but that didn't make it any easier to accept. He was letting the side down, he was a liability and had become a burden to Una. Pike was even having trouble staying upright against the tree, his eyelids were growing heavy and each of his limbs felt like they were shutting down one by one. It was because of all these things, and the fact that he was more than a step behind mentally, that Chris didn't hear somebody approaching until it was far too late.

A twig snapped nearby forcing Pike to jump, breathe in sharply and tense all at the same time. His eyes flew open in a panic and swung to the sound, which was when he saw a man dressed in combat gear with a big gun pointed his way; he knew immediately that he was in big trouble.

Chris realised that the hand that had been holding his own phaser had dropped to the side, and that wasn't the worst of the news. The worst thing was that he could barely even feel that hand, when he tried to curl his fingers around the grip all he got in response was a meek flinch. He had allowed his body to become too relaxed and now he was at a big disadvantage. Could he raise the weapon in time? Usually he would grade his reflexes as excellent, but not now, not when he could literally see 3 identical gunman closing in on him even though he knew there could only be 1.

The gunman noticed the phaser in Pike's hand and obviously saw his hand twitch, wanting to bring the weapon up to fire. He adjusted the aim of his own blaster rifle to point at Pike's head and growled out a warning. "You even think about lifting that and I swear you'll live to regret it."

Chris didn't feel the need to tell the gunman that he doubted he could lift it, that didn't stop him from wanting to try though. He didn't want to be anywhere near his former captor again, especially after their escape attempt and there was no doubt that surrendering to this man would lead him right back there. Not to mention Una...

The gunman took a few predatory steps forward and barked another order. "Toss it to the side."

Pike kept his hand clenched tightly around the weapon as his mind whirled for a solution, the last thing he wanted to do was give up his and Una's only defence. The gunman noted his indecisiveness, closed the distance and kicked him viciously in the leg.

Chris groaned and curled forwards, clutching at the inflamed wound. The limb had already taken enough damage throughout the day, he really didn't need a maniac adding to his misery.

"I said throw it away!"

Pike saw the gunman rear back for another kick, which would be one more than he could handle. He quickly tossed the gun to the side and held up a hand in surrender whilst coughing up words. "Okay, okay... it's gone."

He waited in tense silence for another blow, but thankfully no more came. The gunman prioritised securing the weapon over causing Pike more bodily harm, he went over to the phaser all the while scouring the surroundings for something. Chris realised belatedly that he was searching for someone; Number One who was still high up in the trees and hopefully not thinking about trying anything stupid. It was Pike's failing faculties that had gotten him into this mess, he didn't want to drag Una down with him.

With the phaser pocketed, the gunman stalked back towards Pike and levelled the rifle at his head whilst he reached for his radio. Chris gulped nervously when he realised this situation was about to get ten times worse, one bad guy was difficult odds in their state but more would be impossible to overcome.

"I've found him."

A mixture of silence and static mixed through the open channel until a very familiar voice appeared. "He's alone?"

Chris swallowed heavily, Alec did _not_ sound happy.

His current captor didn't look too happy either, he glared down at Pike before sweeping his gaze around their immediate area again. "Looks it. I'll find out where the other one's gone."

Pike didn't like the sound of that. He also didn't like the predatory stare that the gunman was throwing him.

"Get the information, just don't kill him."

The gunman closed off the channel and smiled down at Pike, his eyes gleamed with anticipation and he crouched down to meet Chris' eye-line.

"Where is she?"

Pike tried to keep the fear he felt out of his voice, he decided the best tact was to play dumb. "Who?"

As it turned out that hadn't been the smartest move, as was demonstrated by an almighty snack around the head. Chris' neck snapped to the side and he felt a new cut join the others inside his mouth.

"You want to get cute with me?" The gunman yelled into his face, grabbing a hold of Pike's hair and yanking upwards. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." He ground the deadly weapon harshly into Pike's ribs. "Your choice."

Chris grunted from the pressure, his neck was forced painfully upwards by the hold in his hair whilst the jabbing in his side made him want to curl up into a foetal position. In this painful hold he couldn't escape the gunman's evil glare, or his pleasure at causing Chris harm.

He would have said almost anything to relieve the misery; what he did end up blurring out wasn't far from the truth. "She's gone."

The gunman tilted his head suspiciously, tightening the hold on his captive's hair. "She wouldn't leave you."

Chris tried to ignore the increasing pain level and ran with the story. "She went to get help, I was just slowing her down."

The gunman wasn't at all convinced by the lie. He shook his head in disbelief and without warning ground his rifle into Pike's dislocated shoulder, causing him to scream. "Where is she?!"

"Right here."

Una dropped from the tree gracefully with a large branch in her hands. Before the gunman could react properly to her surprise appearance, the branch was swinging towards his head at speed. Pike watched in awe as the branch splintered into a million tiny pieces, his attacker was bowled over with the force and Chris saw the man's eyes roll into the back of his head. Number One's attack was so explosive in nature that the gunman was out cold before he hit the ground.

Una studied the downed man for a few seconds; when she was satisfied he was in fact out for the count she rushed towards the fallen body and relieved him of his weapon. In the meantime Pike tried to pick himself up from the slumped position he had been forced into, he clutched his bad shoulder and winced from the movement. That interrogation had stolen what little energy he had left.

When Number One was done securing the guy, she hobbled over to Chris, her eyes scanning his inflamed injuries with sympathy. "Sorry about taking so long, I had to get into position."

"Was my fault." Chris countered. "Should have shot him."

Una shook her head at him and allowed a small smile to tug at her lips. "Now you see why I couldn't leave you alone?"

Pike didn't have an answer to that but it hardly mattered, they were both distracted by the gunman's radio bursting to life demanding an update.

Una looked at the device fearfully. "We need to get out of here, they'll all be converging on this position."

Pike groaned at the thought of moving and at speed, he didn't know if he had it in him. "Una..."

Chris didn't get any further than that. Una glared at him and snapped back. "If you even think about asking me to leave you behind one more time I'll knock you out and carry you."

Pike's mouth shut slowly as he took in his first officer's sincerity, she was deadly serious. He ended up nodding mutely which Una took as a sign to move forward. She got to her feet and hauled him to his, nearly causing him to pass out there and then.

When Chris stopped seeing triple of everything he managed a few unsteady steps forwards, his arm looped around Una's shoulders as she essentially dragged him along. They began the arduous and very painful journey out of the clearing, both wincing and grunting when broken bones were jarred.

It was only when they were well away that Chris realised he had no idea where they were going. "Where to?" He managed to mutter, astonished at how weak he was.

Una threw him a concerned glance, readjusted his arm around her shoulder and continued to pull him forwards. "I think my message got through to Enterprise. If they're coming they'll start searching at the crash site."

That made sense and Pike wished he could say as much. In the circumstances though he was trying his damned hardest not to scream with every footstep, so the most he managed was a head nod. If Una insisted on dragging him along he could do nothing about it, but he was damned if he was going to make it worse by giving away their position because he was in a little pain. Then again, he didn't know how this nightmare could get much worse.

In hindsight Chris shouldn't have jinxed it because of course, everything could always get worse.

* * *

"Dammit, get down!" Una cursed as she and Chris took a nasty tumble towards the ground narrowly avoiding a set of disruptor blasts which sailed over-head.

Chris hissed when he felt the heat of the beam sear the nape of his neck; that one had been far too close. They both groaned on the floor, their limbs entangled and sluggish. He didn't have the time to truly feel just how much his body had rebelled against that swan dive, not when he and Number One were literally running, or more accurately hobbling, for their lives. He was running purely on adrenaline now and even that was starting to run thin, he had no idea how many times he could keep picking his broken body up again. It was only because Una kept dragging him to his feet that he'd even survived this long.

"Come on!" Una hissed at him whilst hauling him upwards, firing their own stolen weapon back towards their pursuers.

Chris heard a strangled cry in the distance from one of Una's victims, and he felt a stab of satisfaction that they weren't going down without a fight. Sadly the satisfaction was obliterated by the jarring pain of his bones being jostled and his vision greying even further. He hadn't been able to see straight for some time but seeing upside down trees was definitely a new low... His head had been knocked around so much he literally didn't know which way was up anymore.

"Ahhhh." He hissed when Una forcibly dragged him forwards, keeping them both low and moving between the thick vegetation for cover.

"Sorry." She muttered, voice full of remorse. She knew how much he was hurting; how much he didn't need this after the pounding his body had taken, but this was a matter of survival. "Just a little further."

Chris felt awful but he just didn't have the strength to do anything anymore, he clung to Una's shoulder like a limpet and ended up sagging on her more with each step forward. All the while his head was hanging limply against his chest, whilst he focussed on dragging his feet forward an inch at a time. He had no idea if Una was lying to him about their progress, he certainly didn't have the faculties to check so he just took her word on faith.

"...Kay..." he managed to mutter back, coughing either side of the word.

If he thought it would make any difference he'd tell Una to just go and leave him here, but she hadn't listened to him the last 10 times and he sincerely doubted she would start now.

The two made slow progress through the thicket whilst the trailing enemy tried to keep up. As far as Chris could tell, they'd only had a few on their tail and thanks to Una's sharpshooting that number had dwindled. The number of shots sailing past them were decreasing but they both knew that wouldn't last. It wouldn't take long for the main group to catch up to them and if they did...

Well, that was better not thought of, especially after their attack on Alec.

"I see the shuttle!" Una actually sounded surprised, she hadn't thought they would have been strong enough to outrun their hunters let alone make it all the way to the crash site.

Despite feeling like death warmed up, Pike perked up at the news. He managed to lift his head and sure enough the clearing and rubble were in sight. If they could make it to cover they could put up a defence, and pray that somebody had heard their cry for help. The Enterprise command team hobbled the last few metres with a new determination, already hearing an increase in enraged voices following their path. Chris bit back a cry when Una shifted his shoulder up to get more of a hold on his mid-section, he didn't want to make this anymore difficult for her; he felt guilty enough as it was.

Their last dash for cover was awash with colour as lasers whizzed past them, passing far too close for comfort. Una dragged Chris behind the shuttle fuselage, causing them both to yell out in pain. Chris closed his eyes and tried to control the fiery agony, he tried to take deep even breaths but even that was a struggle. He heard Number One scramble beside him and begin to return fire, he heard explosions from the enemy and the air started to smell of burning. The last thing he saw before his vision greyed entirely was Number One's sweat-streaked face, mouthing something to him rather urgently.

Pike jolted back into reality with a start, his body was still lying on the forest floor and the ground was thick with smoke and fire. As his vision cleared he saw Number One by his side, nursing a few new scorch marks in her uniform but otherwise looking ready for a fight. Her teeth were bared, her face covered with grime and soot, the phaser held tightly in her hand as she left cover to fire back against the hunters.

He must have lost some time there because their shelter was considerably more marked, and the shuttle wreckage was in even further disarray. How long had Number One been holding them off for, alone?

When she ducked back into cover her eyes swung his way, widening when she saw he was awake. Una scooted over to him, flinching when bolts continued to smack into their shelter. Chris tried to focus on her movements but his vision kept blurring, as well as his other senses. He could see her lips moving but the sound was all muffled.

All of a sudden everything snapped into focus at once; the sounds of the raging firefight and Number One's yelling.

"Captain!" She fought to be heard over the top of the chaos. "You've got to stay awake!"

Chris knew that too, it was dangerous to fall asleep after sustaining such a nasty head wound. Not trusting himself to speak, he managed a nod which was enough for his XO. She turned back to the matter at hand and restarted her effort to hold the gunman back. That was when Number One lost the battle.

Pike watched on, horrified, when a phaser bolt slammed into her shoulder area, sending her crashing back to the floor with a yelp, clutching at her wounded limb whilst the weapon flew out of her hands.

"Una!" He called out, genuine terror breaking his voice apart at the seams.

He forced himself upwards and only started to breathe easier again when he saw her chest rising and falling, and when he heard the whispers of pain pass her lips. She was alive, and by the looks of it the blast had just missed her heart.

Chris wanted desperately to go to her side, to soothe her hurt and suffering but if he did that they were both dead. Without Una firing back there wasn't anything stopping the gunman from overwhelming their position. It was that fact that drove Chris onwards. He rolled onto his front, zeroed in on the fallen phaser and started to drag himself painfully across the floor.

He almost blacked out once or twice but gritted his teeth and pinched himself to stay conscious. Chris didn't dare listen to their surroundings, he was aware of Una's gasping but hadn't heard anything from their pursuers. He was just within reach of the phaser when he heard footsteps and felt a presence approaching from behind.

Out of nowhere a boot appeared, slamming down onto his outstretched hand and grinding it into the dirt. Chris cried out and tried to snatch the limb back but to no effect. When his eyes followed the boot up to its owner his heart dropped, Alec was staring down at him malice written clearly all over his expression.

"Hello Captain."

* * *

Chris grunted when his captor's hands shoved him back towards the dirt, his search over. Of course Alec hadn't found anything useful, Una had been carrying the communicator and their weapon was currently on Alec's belt. After their capture the pair of them had been swiftly surrounded on all sides and then subjected to a rather rough search, one which their captors seemed to take no end of joy out of.

Pike huffed against the dirt, and clenched his fingers into the mud until he got a handle on the burning pain flowing from his shoulder. He heard the sound of crunching leaves getting quieter, indicating that the gunmen were moving away; with any luck far enough away so they weren't standing directly over the pair of them. When Chris heard their captors begin to mutter between themselves he stole a glance over to Una, desperate to see how she was.

He caught her gaze immediately, she had clearly had the same idea. They both checked the other over, Pike's eyes slid to Una's new shoulder wound and he winced when he saw the gory mess. Number One's gaze slid to his shoulder and ended back on his head, staring at a point above his hairline. When their brief check was over they met back in the middle, looking even more depressed and downtrodden. Their expressions were mirrored, equal in their dismay and both broken.

Frankly, Pike felt defeated. He didn't have any energy left, they were outgunned and outnumbered, and there was no sign of any help coming their way. It was hopeless. All of this had been for nothing, their desperate escape attempt had failed leaving them to more misery and pain. They knew there would be nothing better in store for them, now, he and Una shared a fate worse than most. Although Chris knew he probably wouldn't last long enough to find out, he felt like death warmed up as it was and he was definitely hanging by his last thread.

Pike's head snapped up when he heard the group disband, some heading out to form a security perimeter, others towards the shuttle but the most alarming movement were the men heading their way. Chris noticed at the last minute what they were carrying and what that meant for him and Una; rope.

Alec glared down at Pike coldly, nursing his head wound with one hand whilst pointing down at his victim with the other. "Tie his hands behind his back this time, I don't care if he passes out."

Chris tried to backpedal away from the oncoming men, his eyes wide with fear. He didn't want anyone's hands near his damaged shoulder, let alone people who actually wished him harm. When they grabbed at his arm he kicked out wildly, yelling against the assault and hearing Number One do the same.

The gunman sidestepped his kick easily and deftly flipped him over onto his front, trying to grab his arm and yank it from where he had it protected. Pike tried to struggle against the prying arms but after a punch to the lower back he lost all of his strength, and when they succeeded in pulling his injured arm up behind his back he screamed and promptly blacked out.


	6. Chapter 6

_Slap!_

Chris groaned and felt his neck snap to the side. His synapses started to come back online and his consciousness whirred into gear; he was spurred on by the unhelpful rough hands determined to bring him back into the land of pain.

"He's still not with us."

"Give him another one."

Pike eyebrows squished together as his muddled mind tried to comprehend what was happening. His attempts to follow the voices were hampered when something hard collided with his face, sending his neck snapping back the opposite way. A moan slipped past his lips and he tasted blood begin to pool in his mouth. The slap hadn't done him much good but what it had done was help to bridge the final connections in his brain, which helped to bring him back to his body, whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen. Awake, his injuries were made real, his entire body throbbed and begged for rest, and to top it all off he rejoined the hellish nightmare that he and Una had fallen into.

_Una!_

Chris forced his eyes open, the only thing on his mind was Number One and her wellbeing, he was already a lost cause but Una could still get out of this, so the first face he looked for was her's. After his vision cleared he found his XO looking worse for where, but alive, kneeling next to him. She was already looking his way, her shoulders slumped in defeat and face plastered in grime and blood. Chris didn't imagine he looked any better. He automatically tried to move his arms but cursed when his hands pulled against thick rope, the aftermath sent shockwaves all the way up his arm to his injured shoulder, causing him to gasp and sway unsteadily forward. Someone grabbed at his shoulder, halting his fall. They pulled backwards and pushed Chris closer to Number One.

The presence behind him leaned down to his ear and hissed threateningly. "Keep your eyes open. You fall asleep again and you won't like what comes next."

Chris didn't want to mention that he didn't like what was happening now, let alone next. Instead of being a smart-ass he swallowed his pride and remained subdued, holding his tongue but making it clear he wasn't about to fall asleep. Thankfully the reaction was enough to mollify his captor, he grunted and released his crushing grip on Pike's arm, stepping away from Pike and Una to give them space.

"Hey." Una whispered urgently. Pike snapped to her, feeling drunk as his vision fought to keep up with his head movements. "Lean on me."

Chris blinked in confusion and started to shake his head, the last thing he wanted to do was put his weight on Number One, especially after she had basically carried him this far.

Una threw him her most withering look and snapped. "Just do it Chris, you look like you're about to topple over any second." She glanced nervously from him over to a group of men huddled near the shuttle. "And then we'd both be screwed."

He followed her gaze and spotted a hive of activity around the shuttle wreckage. Lots of eyes were on them, and he and Una appeared to have two armed guards each, behind and in front. These guys definitely weren't taking anymore chances, even though he was about to fall flat on his face and Una wasn't much better. A shiver suddenly racked through his body, one which indicated blood loss or at the very least the beginning of an infection. The onset of severe dizziness forced his hand. Chris swallowed his arguments and leant his head on Una's shoulder, feeling relief not only from the support but also from the reassurance of hearing her beating heart beneath his ear.

Chris was convinced that his weakness would be reprimanded by one of their guards, which was why he remained tense until a minute passed without interference. The command team stayed like that, kneeling in the dirt and slowly losing the will to stay upright, providing each other comfort and the strength to stay awake whilst the gunman around them prepared to move out.

"How's your shoulder?" Chris whispered against her side, wary of prying guards watching on.

"Feels like someone ripped it off." Una snorted, causing her to hiss in pain when the action caused the wound in question to burn. She craned her neck in an attempt to meet his eye. "I won't even bother asking how you are."

He managed a meek smile, even amongst these dire circumstances Una was still Una. "Don't hold back any punches now." He quipped.

Chris was expecting their verbal sparring to continue so he was surprised when Number One kept quiet. He frowned and glanced to her, a question in his eyes. She just smiled sadly back at him, magnifying his concern and apprehension.

"I'm sorry I didn't get us out of here."

Chris' frown morphed into regret, anguish shining clearly from his expression. "Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for. Your safety is my responsibility." She had done everything in her power to get them out of here, far more than he could have.

Una was having none of it. "You were injured, besides it's the first officer's job to protect-"

"You were injured too Una." He interrupted firmly. "You did more than duty or anyone could have asked of you. _You_ are the reason I made it this far. I only wished you'd listened to me back in the jungle."

Una scoffed, shaking her head incredulously. "I was never going to leave you Chris." She met his gaze seriously, something softer there. "You should know that by now."

His heart clenched painfully. "I do, and the feeling's mutual." Christ, he wished his hands were free, he wanted to gather Una up in his arms and never let go.

Una broke the intense eye contact with a sniffle and choked laugh. "Listen to us." She mocked, an embarrassed air to her. "What do you say we lay off the heavy stuff? I don't want you making me cry, it'll spoil my makeup."

Chris knew what she was doing, moving away from that dangerous path before they both slipped down it. That was the last thing they needed whilst contemplating death.

He followed her lead, swallowing down his own truths and hiding his fears with a laugh. "We can't have that can we-"

"Aren't you two a picture." Alec interrupted with a bitter laugh, shattering what could be their last peaceful moment.

Pike felt Number One stiffen beneath him, they both turned to glare at their captor. They were clearly both slipping, neither of them had sensed the bastard approaching. Chris automatically straightened whilst in Alec's presence, he glared at the psychopath coldly whilst lifting his head up off of Una's shoulder.

Alec smirked at their mirrored display of defiance. Suddenly he crouched down to their level, making them both flinch back and swallow nervously. "What? Not feeling so chatty now?"

Chris and Una kept their mouths firmly shut, jaws clenched and lips pressed together in a thin line of displeasure. Neither of them were going to give Alec the satisfaction of paying him any attention.

Alec got to his feet with a chuckle, staring down at his two captives callously. All of a sudden, Alec's face froze over and his eyes darkened considerably. He withdrew his energy weapon, surprising everyone. Chris tensed at the sight of the weapon and froze when it came to rest against his head, he saw Una shift forward out of the corner of his eye and heard her sharp intake of breath. Pike daren't look away from Alec; it felt like he was still deciding whether to pull the trigger or not.

Alec's eyes widened curiously and he tilted his head to the side like a snake about to strike. "You're not going to ask me not to shoot you."

"I'm not begging for my life." Pike ground out angrily, clenching his fists and straining against the rope. If he could just get his hands on his enemy...

Alec flicked his eyes over to Number One, something playful settling in his gaze. "Would you beg for hers?"

Chris' stomach churned nastily and he started to panic, whilst he was okay giving up his own life he could not say the same about Number One.

Number One interrupted their deadly standoff in a tired tone. "Stop playing games. We get it, you won."

Alec's eyes twitched, indicating how close he was to cracking. After a tense silence, he removed the weapon from Pike's head and smirked. "It does look that way."

Alec rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly lost in thought. He glanced around the space and watched the men salvage what they could from the crashed federation shuttle. The gunman suddenly winced and touched his bleeding forehead with a scowl, the action sparking a memory. "Do you remember what I told you when we were last here?"

_Oh shit._

Alec glanced between the two of them and eventually laughed at their continued silence. The fact that they didn't want to play along didn't deter him, in fact it only seemed to improve his mood. "I told you that if either of you tried anything, the other would die."

_Double shit, fuck._

"Now." He walked between the kneeling pair, his weapon held loosely. "Let me jog my memory."

Chris was under no illusion that this bastard was playing with them, and worse; he was enjoying it.

Alec pointed the phaser to Una, causing Pike to stiffen and glance anxiously over. Would he really murder one of them, like this, in cold blood?

"I believe it was you who knocked me down." Alec drawled.

"So that means." The phaser suddenly swung to Pike, setting off a chain of events. "The Captain must die." The phaser whirred to life, glowing a deadly red. Alec pressed it against Pike's forehead so hard that he felt it leave an indentation in his skin.

"No! Chris!" Una cried out and leaned towards him, before being grabbed by a guard and hauled back.

Pike stayed very still and held Alec's murderous gaze; he hadn't expected this. Then again if it was this or watching it happen to Una he knew which option he preferred. Everything fell away; in that moment it was just Chris, Alec, and the phaser. They held each other's gaze, Chris looking for the moment when Alec would prove himself a cold blooded murderer. Looking into his eyes now, Chris thought he had it in him. There was no flicker of doubt there, no emotions just cold steel.

A smile suddenly tugged at Alec's lips, quirking them upwards into a nasty sneer. "Then again, I don't want to get rid of my star hostage now do I?"

Chris glared defiantly at Alec, forcing himself to stay silent even though inside he was coiling with rage. He was done with this taunting but Alec wasn't. In a blur of movement the gunman moved the phaser from his head and aimed it at Number One, stilling her struggles instantly. "So, this lands on you." He tipped his head and shrugged, not looking apologetic in the slightest. "Sorry."

Pike had been frozen in place but as soon as he registered the change in targets, he lost it. "No!" He shouted and surged forward, which was foreseen by the burly man behind him who held him back easily. Chris was desperate to stop what was about to happen but he couldn't see how he could, this wasn't supposed to be Una. This was supposed to land on him.

For her part, Number One was quiet. She didn't look at Alec or the gun held against her head, instead she looked to him, acceptance shining from her eyes. Chris did not accept this, he couldn't. Pike panted hard and continued to struggle against the hands holding him, he didn't know if he could do this; he didn't know if he could watch Una be shot down and killed in cold blood.

She seemed to sense what he did; that their captor was done playing, and that this was happening whether they liked it or not.

'It's okay.' Una mouthed to him, remaining strong in the face of death whilst he fell apart.

Time seemed to slow and everything went silent, then there was a shot and a body hit the floor.

* * *

A fatal phaser bolt slammed right through Alec's chest, setting off a chain of events which began with him falling to the floor lifeless and carried on with a tactical assault on their position. Chris and Una had all of two seconds to come to terms with the fact that she hadn't just been shot, and that their psychopathic captor was lying dead at their feet, before everything exploded around them.

"Get down!"

"It's Starfleet!"

"Where the hell did they come from?"

"Put down your weapons!"

All the voices seemed to scream out at once. The exact words started to become jumbled when the amount of phaser fire increased dramatically, that and numerous flash bangs and shock grenades filled the air with explosions and smoke. Chris squeezed his eyes shut automatically, it was his only way to shy away from the blinding light of the grenades; his hands just tugged uselessly against his restraints.

Pike began to cough when the smoke filled his lungs. He soon became disorientated and it wasn't long before he started to lose his fight with gravity, not that he would have really known which way was up anyway. The area was too full of smoke and fire for that.

Suddenly something grabbed at his shoulder and he could tell it wasn't a friendly person based on how hard they tugged at him; the appearance of a knife against his throat only confirmed that fact. Chris grunted against the attack but was forced to follow whoever it was that was trying to yank his head off.

"Captain!"

"Let him go!"

"Drop the weapon!"

Pike heard lots of conflicting shouts and struggled to blink through the hazy atmosphere, which was not easy in his current state. He could barely keep up with everything that was happening around him; it was chaos. One minute he'd been about to watch his best friend shot down, then Alec had been shot and now he had a sharp instrument of violence pressing dangerously close to his carotid artery.

When he managed to make out shapes he recognised familiar tactical gear from the Enterprise, and when his captor stopped shaking him around like a rag doll he recognised a few familiar faces, which was a welcome relief. What was even more of a relief was spotting Number One alive and being covered by the security team, who were quickly taking control of the situation. All the other gunman were either stunned, in cuffs or neutralised. So, that just left him and his opportunistic captor.

The Starfleet Officers formed a line, their weapons tracking Pike's captor with steely expressions. Chris winced when the knife shook against his throat enough to draw blood, the security team tracked the movement and all moved forward a step as one.

"Stay back!" His captor warned shakily.

Chris closed his eyes when his captor shook his body, making the blood rush to his head all at once. When he opened them again he saw determination shining back, from Number One who was fighting against the Enterprise security officers to get up and away from the Enterprise crew. Now they were here, they weren't leaving without their Captain.

"Drop it now and let him go." The security team yelled louder, standing their ground. "This is your last warning."

Maybe it was the sight of his colleagues on the floor incapacitated, or maybe it was the sheer number of phasers pointing his way, but Pike's captor surprised everyone when he lifted the knife away from his captive's neck and released his hold on him. The only snag for Chris was that his captor had been the one holding him up, and without him he didn't have the strength left to stand alone, so when the support was removed he slumped to the floor and promptly passed out.

* * *

For Chris, the world came back to him in flashes of consciousness and pain. He remembered awakening face down in the dirt and feeling the agonising pain of having his hands untied and brought forward. He heard Una shout out to be careful with his arm and then there was another blank spot. The next thing he saw was Una being helped to a shuttle, and then he was looking up at the ceiling of a shuttle too.

Chris heard the bustle of people nearby, felt hands peeling his bloodied uniform off and secure him for shuttle transfer. He glanced sideways, the shuttle looking blurry and out of focus. He managed to see another figure in the other bed and recognised Una having her wounded shoulder covered. Pike winced when she cried out in pain and he soon mirrored her shouts when hands found their way to his shoulder. Chris felt something press against his neck and the pain from his wounds started to dull, even his shoulder numbed down. He realised sedatives must have been mixed in with the painkillers when the shuttle ceiling faded too black.

He drifted awake again when he felt movement, he was lifted and placed on another bed and Chris recognised the walls of sickbay around him. He groaned when hands pressed down all over him. Pike heard Boyce's voice call for blood and coax him into staying still. Familiar voices promised him he was safe, that Una was safe and that they were going to take care of the both of them. He felt more medication flood his system, providing even more relief and making him feel almost human. Chris also felt something which made him suspiciously sleepy and then darkness descended.

* * *

Chris' head reeled when Boyce began his lengthy diagnosis, listing everything that was wrong with his Captain's body assisted by an assortment of angry looking scans. Pike's several cracked ribs had turned into broken and fractured bones, which explained why his chest had been so tight when Una had been dragging him. Those broken pieces of bone had caused no end of trouble for the Doctors, from minor cuts inside his body to severe internal bleeding, and that was without mentioning the bruised spleen which was having to be partly regrown.

The beating he had taken linked with the shuttle crash also caused an unhealthy amount of head injuries. When he'd been wheeled in, Boyce had struggled to recognise his friend underneath all the blood and grime. They'd had to contend with a fractured skull, several contusions and broken bones across his face, but by far the most serious had been a bleed on the brain followed by severe swelling. Boyce had immediately ordered the Captain be sent into an induced coma, they'd been lucky that a clot hadn't reached his brain thus far. Naturally, after the amount of trauma his head had taken, Chris was now suffering from a severe concussion.

To top off his misery, Pike had his sprained ankle strapped up and elevated, he had heavy bandages around his wrists for the rope burns and was still being pumped up with blood due to the amount he had lost on the planet. The most cumbersome injury of them all was his shoulder, it had turned into a complex ligament tear and still required more surgeries when his body was up to it. For now it was wrapped in a sling and held uselessly against his body. Una's move to slot the joint back in place had restored blood flow and thankfully there wasn't any irreversible nerve damage, but it still wasn't easy to use and wouldn't be for a while yet, not without physio at least.

When Boyce was finished listing Pike's lengthy list of ailments he turned onto Number One, thankfully she hadn't suffered nearly as much damage. They shared misery in the sprained ankle department, although Una's had swelled three times as large and looked a lot more painful. Another thing they shared was lacerations from broken glass, nasty facial contusions and rope burns. Una also had a concussion to deal with on top of shrapnel embedded in her legs and arms which Pike had somehow failed to spot.

Without a doubt, Una's most serious injury was the phaser wound in her shoulder. The blast had caused a multitude of burns, muscle damage and damned near shattered her collar bone. The wound wasn't life threatening but it wasn't pleasant either. She had her entire shoulder swaddled in gauze and bandages and had regen sessions every hour, eventually a soft cast would go on and would have to stay on for a few days but for now her arm was as immobilised as Chris' was.

They really made quite the pair.

"So, what's the damage?" Pike quipped, continuing a long running joke between him and the medical department.

Even after hearing the lengthly diagnosis, Chris was most interested in his recovery time. Boyce threw him a deeply unimpressed look over the top of Pike's data pad. He replaced it at the end of the Captain's bed, tapping his fingers against the rail before letting out an amused chuckle. "Well, you won't be anywhere near the bridge for about a week and even then it'll only be light duty."

Enterprise' CMO then glanced backwards to Number One, who was sat upright in bed and naturally sporting a healthier look than Pike considering her less serious injuries. "Number One will probably be out in a few days, if she's lucky."

"We can't stay in here for that long. Who's going to run the ship?" Pike snapped. Una just sighed wearily, consigning herself to the extended stay whilst Chris fought against it. He'd been in here too many times to take this latest sentence laying down.

Boyce's expression remained light although his eyes betrayed just how stubborn he would be on this matter. "You can and you will. The kid has been doing a good enough job and will continue to do so until I clear you for active duty, which could take a while. Before that we've got physio and check-ups to consider."

Chris ignored the threat and focussed on what Boyce had revealed. "The kid?"

"Lieutenant Spock." Una supplied; she must have gotten the information from her data pad and the reports. Somehow she'd sweet talked Phil into letting her have access to a pad and the most recent reports, Chris hadn't had such luck.

"Oh." The answer had taken Chris by surprise, so much so that his intrigue obliterated any thoughts about his extended stay in sickbay. "How's he been?"

Boyce smirked triumphantly, happy that his gambit for distraction had paid off. "He's been great. When communications across the whole planet went down he stayed calm, and he coordinated the relief effort as well as the search for you two. His only regret was that he couldn't find you sooner."

"He did everything right." Una interjected, before putting the pad down a little too forcefully. "There was nothing he could have done to find us any quicker."

Boyce shrugged. "That's what I told him, but it didn't help."

"He was affected by our disappearance?" Pike read between the lines.

"Affected yeah, that's one way of putting it." The Doctor trailed off and stayed quiet for a few moments. "It's funny, I've never seen Spock experience any kind of emotion before but when we found out your shuttle went down... let's just say, Spock wasn't himself until we knew you were safe."

"I wouldn't have expected such a reaction from him." Una interjected before Pike could process what Boyce was saying.

Chris felt the need to defend Spock, even though Una expected no emotional reactions from a Vulcan it was hardly fair to expect it from an inexperienced officer. "This was his first proper command Una."

"True." She conceded flicking her eyes up to him, recognising his challenging tone. "But Spock hasn't shown any such signs when under pressure before."

"Being in charge of a whole ship is a different kind of pressure, not to mention the lives down on that planet."

Chris knew that burden better than most; he also knew how much time it took to come to peace with himself and the decisions he had to make to save lives. It hadn't been easy, self doubt was a beast that had to be slayed early on, otherwise you would never be able to command effectively. As Captain April had once told him, you must have trust in yourself otherwise how are others going to trust you?

"Numbers shouldn't come into it." Una countered.

Chris titled his head and offered her a sad smile. "We both know they do though."

That silenced Una, they'd both been in that situation too many times to duck the harsh reality.

Boyce suddenly scoffed causing them both to put an end to their verbal sparring. "You two..."

"What?" They asked as one.

Boyce was struggling to hold back a laugh, clearly very amused by something. "You sound like my parents."

Chris rolled his eyes, ignored the implication and swiftly moved back onto the matter at hand. "There's clearly something that needs to be worked on. Whether it's unresolved emotions or something else entirely. I'll have a chat with him."

"You want to talk to Spock, a Vulcan, about his emotions." Boyce asked incredulously, even Una looked mildly amused.

"Problem?"

Boyce and Number One shared an equally bemused and equally worried glance which had Pike on edge.

"Maybe we haven't diagnosed all of your head injuries yet..."

_Finis_


End file.
